Welcome
by MYSTERY READER the original
Summary: The Storm Hawks follow Cycloniss into the FarSide. Cornered and defeated, the Master is no longer in control, of herself or her Talon. Have you noticed the emblem of the Nightcrawlers? Find out what a plausible end to the 3rd season is. A betrayal, a rise of an unexpected new villain, and cause for an unlikely alliance. Is Cycloniss finished? Or has she only begun?
1. Episode1: The FarSide

**For Dove, Wren, and the Rebel Ducks. Cycloniss will PAY.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Storm Hawks, all recognizable references, etc. belong to their respectful owners. Thank you very much.**

EP1: Starling's POV

_"Squadron log: It's been six hours since Cyclonia fell. Six hours since the Atmos was set free. And six hours since the bravest people I know left for the Far Side. Atmos owes the Storm Hawks a debt they can never repay. At least when they return, they'll get the recognition they deserve."_

Dove and I, then Wren shared a prideful expression of our friends. Everyone cheered as the flag with the Storm Hawks emblem waved in the winds of the free Atmos.

"Good luck friends." I saluted the new flag. The Storm Hawks will be hailed here.

"Something tells me that zee Stom Hawks will be jost fine." Said Dove.

"Will you be fine?" I asked her.

"Of course, however…I suppose we can't coal ourselves zee rezistaunce any moore,"

"Rideculous! Z'wee always be zee rezistaunce of Gale! Oi, you there not there!" Wren totters away, pots clanging to stop a volunteer from moving re-usable rubble to the junk pile. Dove's smile vaporized, I knew she was just putting on a brave face for her Grandfather. It was what I did; I had to uphold the reputation of the Interceptors. I laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It gets easier," she smiles appreciatively of the comfort I was giving now.

"I lost my Terra as well…Terra Mesa." she gaped. I nodded in affirmation.

"A few years ago, Repton and the Raptors attacked us at our Terra," _I remember how they just…AMBUSHED us, with children running around, scared._

It was a small Terra and it had a small population.

_I knew everyone, and the children who aspired to be the new Interceptors when my squadron and I retired. I gave them a few tips here and there when they played 'Interception'._

However small we were, we were the best Sky Knight Squadron, the best at Aerial Combat and SkyFu.

_I trained my squadron every other day at the dry patch on the other side of the village on the Terra. To keep their skills and instincts sharp. And I was certain they were prepared seeing as I was their teacher…even though they fought, what I taught them wasn't anywhere near enough…It made my heart convulse painfully. I shook my head._

It was green, abundant in flora and small woodland creatures.

**Sequence of wandering through the trees, bunnies hopping away and birds chirping then suddenly backs away until you see the whole Terra engulfed in flames. **

They burned them down. We couldn't evacuate anyone and fight the Raptors. I myself was fighting Repton but I should have been able to more…_I tried to hold his sword back but when I noticed Terra Mesa completely engulfed in flames, not a chance that anyone survived…I just couldn't _**_believe_**_ it…Repton took advantage of the chink in concentration and knocked me off his ride. I heard him laugh when I struggled to deploy my parachute and land safely. What's the point? I thought at the time. I have nothing now..._

Nothing is left, that is why it is a dry Terra now."

"I am so zorry," I shake my head.

"We all fought our best. I'm proud of my squadron and our citizens. I lost my home Terra but Atmos is my home as well and it's still my duty to protect it. As it yours and the Rebel Ducks." Dove smiles and salutes.

"Z'wee protect our homes, that we swear!" Starling chuckles and wraps an arm around Dove.

"Let's go make sure the volunteers don't re-build the new houses crookedly."

**Camera lets them walk past it then backs up to an aerial view of Atmosia rebuilding. They split up and Starling goes to help a boy her age who gives her a nervous smile when Starling picks up the other end of the wooden planks.**

* * *

**Meanwhile in the FarSide...the Storm Hawks are on the deck of the Condor…**

Piper's POV

Our eyes were slightly blinded by the bright light and green energy field across what looked to be a part of the Great Expanse. The calls of birds from a species we don't recognize resonated off the canyons.

"**This** is going to be _fun_." I hear Aerrow say. Aerrow and I smiled with our arms crossed, Finn and Junko were grinning hanging off each other. Stork is fiddling with his fingers and Raddarr squawks in agreement.

"Stork," We all turn to hear Aerrow's first orders since we arrived.

"Land the Condor. The rest of us will check what we have to work with in the ship. " Finn and Junko run ahead into the hanger bay and repair area.

"Piper, after you check our fuel storage, we need to come up with a plan. It's good to have you back," He says putting a hand on my bony shoulder. _I'll have to gain my weight back and I know he'll make sure of that, he always takes good care of us._

"It's good to be back." I said, patting his back as I passed him going back into the Condor to check my storage which was where ever there was room to stash a crate of fuel or engine crystals really. The Darkroom, my room, you name it.

I walked into the bow, letting my hand slide across the round table with our emblem on it. _I'm so glad we still have the Condor. It's gonna take a while to get used to the new environment...They had better not gone through our stuff! _I thought, remembering that the Condor was in the hands of Cyclonians. I immediately went to check under my desk, my bed and on top of my drawers.

"Ergh," I groan when I find the one solitary red engine crystal behind the crate of Boomers. I run to the dark room in the lower decks of the Condor to search for more. _I mean there's gotta be more!_

Aerrow is trying to put Stork at ease while Finn and Junko zip across the Bay area and call out what they've found.

"Chicka-cha, I found a converter. Betcha can't beat that!" He challenges.

"A Velocity amp!"

"Awgh, I'll get something buddy,"

_Come on, there's gotta be something in here…I look to my _right then left then decided to start looking in the right side of the room first. I pocketed the engine crystal and began rummaging through the boxes and crates.

_With enough fuel crystals, I can power a Skyride. For a while anyway...if we had one. _I jump to the other side and I find only two. _Fuel crystals are low degree. Enough to power a remote control Skyride toy but not an actual Skyride…_I recite_._ I walked out of the Darkroom, in time to follow Finn and Junko with their status reports into the bow. Finn only glances at the map that hung on the wall that Aerrow was looking at intently.

"Bad news man, barely enough to build _part_ of a skimmer," With an elbow resting on his crossed arm, Aerrow nods.

"Piper? Better news?"

"Nope, we barely have enough to power just _one_ Skyride!"

"Mmmm-ack, no luck here either. I can't figure out if we're any close to Atmos,"

"Ahem, excuse me that's my thing," I set down the three crystals in the table that roll around a bit until they stopped.

"The Great Expanse."

"How do you know?" asks a skeptical Stork. More than usual since he's in a new environment.

"Noticed the green energy field? It's like the one in the Great Expanse. Now I'm not saying it is, we would be dealing with a Sky Siren by now, but I think we're close to it."

"So then that puts us off of the third quadrant in Atmos..."

"Maybe...We don't know this place. I think we should go into town and ask around so we get a better idea."

Aerrow-"I agree. Everybody, get your armor,"

"Don't forget these!" I pull out black cloaks that I made for when we needed a disguise.

"And don't forget about spare parts. We need to fix the Condor and make new Skyrides. They won't be as great as the originals but I guess it'll have to do…" Stork resigns.

Aerrow-"Alrighty..."

Finn-"Field trip!"

* * *

**The camera backs out of the bow on the Condor, goes through the window and does a sharp turn and moves across the town to the mountains far away.**

Master Cycloniss's POV

I growl under my breath.

_Damn those Storm Hawks! Why don't they just give up? What are they fighting for?!_

I'm riding on a new Skyride model with the red glow of the crystals that powered it traced it's body. I looked behind me constantly to see if the _Storm Hawks_ actually crossed through the portal. _Of course they did, they're relentless and _**_annoying!_**_..._

The place that will be my new home was a castle like structure inside a cave with stalagmite and stalactites creating teeth a few yards into said cave. _They took down Cyclonia!_ I growled.

"It isn't Cyclonia...Many adjustments have to be done."

They follow me inside, the terrain and architecture more pleasant on the inside, but none of that matters. I waited expectantly in the light of the cavern's large opening in the wall, where I could see everything below, a few feet from the dark corner of the room that will be my new throne room.

"Master…" I smiled.

"Dark Ace, glad you could make it..."

**AN: So what do you think? I'm a little iffy about how the writing style will have to be, I've never written this way but you let me know.**

**March 22, I rewrote it so it's less screenwriter-esqe but it's still supposed to be a TV show so there's a speckle...**


	2. Episode2: Crystals Garage

**For the Dark Ace. Getting walked on by a sadistic, possibly insane, arrogant, fourteen year old girl must be getting old. Also for getting beaten by Aerrow over and over. He must be getting old. Time to retire Ace!**

EP2: Dark Ace's POV

I slugged forward, uncomfortable in _this_ form. I couldn't _feel_ anything…My body glowed like heated metal, my eyes were now clouded with the energy of the Chrysanthemum Crystal the Master took energy from and forced into me at Cyclonia. I feeling like I can't hold myself together so I slowly let go. My form simmers down to the way I normal looked but I know my body is forever changed. My feet stagger, my body worn out from being in an unnatural state.

"Did you know this would happen?" I asked the _arrogant, _fifteen year old_ witch_ referring to my body's split atomically state. A human's body does not break into its organic particles and puts itself together.

"Of course I did." I can't help but growl in anger. She _used_ me…And she doesn't even care. All she must be thinking must be _I'll just take over the Atmos from this side. There's no other remedy for that…_Already making plans for her next move.

She walks past me to her new crystal lab, currently under construction by the Nightcrawlers, with barely a look at my distraught state. The spoiled _brat_ is completely oblivious to my problems. She looms over the crouched Nightcrawlers, supervising with her hands in front of her. I'm livid, but I don't know how to act. _She's stronger..._ Now, Master Cycloniss take notice of the tense atmosphere and fiery fury radiating off of me wildly.

"Come now Ace, instead of being angry with me, we should send a warm welcome to the Storm Hawks!"

_Just as I thought. _

"How long until it is ready..." Cycloniss asks to a Nightcrawler in particular.

"Not for a few days Master..."

"What more do you need." _This will make me behind in my plans...erragh!_

"Some are easy to obtain. Others have to be custom..."

"Then what are you _waiting_ for! Get this done or **I'll destroy the one thing you have left**!"

_What would you do indeed all alone in this world...?_

Cycloniss makes the high grade crystal, she grabbed from within her cloak, glow violently, leaving little to the imagination of what she would do. The Dark Ace takes notice, and watches her carefully. _I must be careful..._

* * *

Piper's POV

After some convincing, we were in the village, wearing the cloaks I made _myself,_ looking at the merchandise being sold in the large market packed with people from this village like in Terra Neon, _speaking of which I hope they're doing alright…They must be with the Atmos Alliances…_I've also paid attention to their clothing and different culture. I wrote as fast a my hands could record my observations. Everyone here wore grays; we would have definitely stood out in our armor. And they concealed our weapons perfectly. Everyone seemed extremely polite but still, with Cycloniss here and having no idea who we could trust or rely on here, its better to be safe than sorry. _Great, I'm turning into Stork. I wonder if that's a disease..._

The market looked like any other, well what I've seen in Atmos, and I'm assuming the carts were a display case and the store itself, which by the way is in a cavern, held so much more. I cringed from the loud cry of the strange large birds that flew in the sky freely, looking like vultures.

"Um, are they gonna swoop down here and eat us?" Stork cowers a little at the loud sound of their cries and from one that swooped a little too low for his comfort.

"They probably would have already Stork. They seem friendly to me." I said not convinced myself.

"Eek!" _That swooped down _**_way_**_ too close! _It landed a few feet from what I guessed was it's trainer.

"And looks like they're trained!" I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the man give it a treat.

Aerrow-"See guys? Nothin' to worry about." Although I'm pretty sure he was worried himself, but Stork didn't seem at all convinced. I follow behind him taking notes and sketching while walking what I saw.

_Our friends back home are gonna want to see _**_this-_**_!_

"Hey guys, check this out!" I look to see Finn 'rocking' a pair of glasses with eyeballs falling forward from springs._ Argh, Finn always too curious for his own good. _But I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Finn, what are you doing?" I ask, a rhetorical question of course. And Finn doesn't get that.

"Hey Piper, whadda'ya think?" He moves causing the springs to…_spring_. Stork's eyes follow the movement of the springs before he closes his eyes and shakes his head to regain control of his eyes again.

"Chicka-cha..." Junko laughs and Radarr offers two thumbs up from Aerrow's shoulder.

"Put that back, we're not here on vacation!" I yell, always having to be Finn's mother. _Wait, eww..._

"h-I know that. I'm just having a little fun-"

Aerrow-"We're not here to have fun. We have to find out where we can get new rides and someplace to get the Condor fixed. And get Cycloniss"

Finn-"You mean figure out where she is. Can't go after her if we don't."

Junko-"Yeah,"

And we're not even sure if we can get our vehicles fixed, or we can even _afford_ it...

Stork-"Some vacation time would be great. We _did_ almost die back at Cyclonia-"

"Precisely why we can't waste any time! Cycloniss could already have a plan to take over this part of Atmos!"

Knowing her she would de prepared for everything..._I remembered when we were just chatting casually in my _room_ and it felt like forever ago yet like yesterday..._

And _Cycloniss almost ended us all! There's no time to waste. Where can she be...? _I shake my head to try to dispell the awful memory.

_The feeling of falling...the power of the binding...I can control it, it all depends on how it's used. Cycloniss is wrong- _I shake my head again. _I can't think about that right now. No time to waste._

"Hey guys, guess we're not going to take our turn watching the dragons, or getting the merbian scouts to their camp, or…" Stork hunched forward.

Aerrow-"I guess not."

We figured that our best bet was to ask the merchants if they knew any shops that sell metal or do repairs. Some shook their heads; others just gave hints of where we could find one. Not very helpful one's either…I sighed. I could hardly sleep last night...

"Oh, yeh somewhere around here there's a great place."

Aerrow-"And…could you tell us where it is?"

"Wish, it sort of disappeared."

We looked at each other at each other like "What?" and "Now what?"

"There's people that sell scrap metal but uh I'd check at this garage. They'll definitely hook you up with some sweet rides, it's where I got this sweet baby," The young man rubbed the seat of his bike that looked _fast. I wonder what crystals are used here…and if they're anything like that huge thing Cycloniss drained on Cyclonia..._

"It wouldn't happen to be the one that seems like it suddenly disappeared?" I asked, already having a feeling of what he'd say.

"Hard to say 'suddenly'. I haven't heard of the family that owns it for weeks."

"Well, could you tell us where it is?" _Please..._

"Roughly. It's somewhere on the out skirts not far from here. Just keep an eye out for a black garage, can't miss it in this clay-ish terrain."

Aerrow-"Uh thanks."

Finn-"Well that was helpful," Stork looks around with a pair of binoculars.

Aerrow-"We'll find it."

Sork-"Already did…" Stork points to a black dot. Getting closer we see it's pretty beat up on the outside. The sign that says "Crystal Rides" falls down on one side and you can hear the sound of some cans toppling somewhere.

Finn-"Woah…this is the place everyone was talking about? I'm not impressed."

Stork-"I kinda like it…"

"I wonder what happened…" _It looks raided.._.

Aerrow-"Let's find out." He's the first to march forward followed by Finn, Stork, Junko in a V formation and Radarr at Aerrow's feet. It's dark apart from the over head lamps but even those were going out. Junko immediately goes to the pile of scrap metal.

Junko-"Ooh, a flipper-thingy!"

Finn-"A what?"

I noticed a desk off to the side overflowing with large charts and blue prints?

_New ride models? Zoom Stealth crystals?_ "Hey Aerrow, check this out,"

Aerrow-"What'd'ya find Piper?"

"I think they're designs for a new model for a uh crystal ride? But I've never heard of ZoomStealth…"

Arrow-"Well maybe we can find someone about it,"

Piper-"I actually think that the engineer is a crystal mage or specialist, I mean these sound like high grade crystals-"

**CRASH!** I sharply turned my head the direction the deafening sound came from. If anyone was nearby, they definitely heard us now…If they didn't already know we were here. The pile of scrap metal fell on Finn and Junko.

Aerrow-"Finn! Junko!"

"Who's there?!" Says a female hidden by shadows holding up two loaded mini cross bows on her arms, who's crystals glow electric blue. Caught off guard and with scared faces we all hold up their hands.

**AN: Sorry about the wait, this takes a while, the creativity that goes into it and everything else on top...**

**March 22nd fixed and added to just like in chapter 1.**

**(Atmos-atmosphere. Remember ep. Stratosphere?) Mind blown!**


	3. Episode3: Latem Welding

**For the Storm Hawks, Latem, and Cyclonis. Everyone deserves a family. Everyone.**

EP3: Latem's POV

I was working on a project that I took on, every since dad disappeared, that I designed specifically for extensive travel and need of few engine crystal replacements. _I don't know where you are dad, but I know you didn't leave me. You couldn't have, you wouldn't leave me alone after mom died. We're both still here because we have each other..._

I heard muffled voices from the front of the garage. The hatch was destroyed so the garage was wide open but no one has come around. Perhaps someone needed my services but I always worked with him…I was going to go tell them that we were closed indefinitely until I heard a deafening crash of metal on metal that people from the heart of the Triassic village. _They came back to take what now!_

I ran to the top of the stairs inside that let me see a bunch of kids. Two males were under the scrap metal and a strange green creature shielded himself while another male and female had my designs in their hands. Just seeing that I was out numbered by four or five if you counted blue Ralemit, made me shove my hands forward.

"Who's there!" And I curled my hands in tight fists making the bows of the small crossbows span and click into shooting mode. The crystal tipped arrows mechanically moved into their slots, ready to fire.

"Don't shoot!" yelled the red headed male. A strange hue in these parts and his clothing was strange as well. I skimmed their figures for any weapons. I saw that the red head had hilts sticking out from his shoulders, the female held a short rod, the large…whatever had something on his knuckles and the blond had a much larger crossbow. In this situation, when your out numbered and out armed, stay on high elevation so you have a view of them all and more targets on them. _Why should I trust them? Even if the did have their hands where I could see them..._

"Give me a reason,"

"We need your help!" cried the female.

"Is that all?"

"We need to get our cruiser fixed and our rides," _Just kids, they're not here to attack. They haven't reached for their weapons either…_I powered down my weapons and lifted the protective mask, I was always reminded to use when welding metal, and assumed a superior stance.

"You're out of luck. This place isn't open for business in case the trashed look wasn't enough to tell you that."

"Please, we heard that you're the best of the best."

"The partner I work with isn't around anymore. I can't help you, sorry."

"We really need your help…" said the giant whatever, albeit adorably.

"There isn't anyone else out there." This blond seemed just as desperate as the rest. _What's going on?_

"What's the problem?"

"We were-uh attacked on our way to find...someone and we crash landed here. Our cruiser is in really bad shape and our rides are worn out," explained the red head.

"I actually meant what the rush was but I guess you're looking for that friend of yours,"

"Friend?!" Laughed the blond.

"Finn!" Scolded the dark blue haired girl.

"You're definitely aren't from around here," I thought aloud. Their clothes were the first indicator, their hair colors the second. I thought back to my invention. _They're in the same position as I am, how could I not help? _I shifted my weight, torn. I sighed.

"Alright,"

"So you'll help?!" cried the girl. I shrugged.

"He-yeah." The large being came and patted my back, a little too hard.

"What are you?"

"I'm a wallop. The name's Junko little lady,"

"I think I'm far from little." I was seventeen autumns old.

"I'm Aerrow, this is Piper, Finn, Stork, and my co-pilot Radarr. We're the Storm Hawks."

"Maybe you've heard of us," said Finn, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Never heard of you."

Aerow-"uh, we're the Storm Hawks," I uncured my arms to shake his out stretched hand.

"Latem Welding."

"So what happened in here? It looks trashed…"

"Finn!"

"That's what I said before. I need to see what your rides need to get them fixed." I said, sticking a "CLOSED" sign on the outside of the garage. I also noticed that the sign fell down on one side. I mentally sighed._ Geez, this place is falling apart…I should probably get it fixed..._

"Thank you so much!"

"Don't thank me yet Piper; I might not be of much help."

"So not true, I saw you're blueprints. You're even better at aeronautics than Finn!"

"Hey!" I allowed myself to smile.

"And you can use the high grade crystals here. Are you a crystal mage?" This girl is indeed a very happy person. That's kind of strange to me.

"Crystal Mage? No, I'm just skilled in handling them and choosing the right ones. My partner and I experimented in finding which two worked best in crystal rides to custom make them to someone's specifications basically custom making them for the individual. Er, we learned from trail and error I guess."

"Heh, so do I. Never mix a slimmer crystal with an eruption stone. It's a huge mess!" I giggled like I knew what she was talking about.

Aerrow-"Speaking of your partner, did he leave?" _Did you dad? Trash the place and leave me with nothing?_

"Uh, I don't know. Since the place was trashed, I imagine that he was taken and our place was raided." I answered, looking straight ahead.

Finn-"Woah, by who?"

"If I_ knew_, I wouldn't be here. There wasn't even a trace!" I yelled at him.

"I'm sorry, I just, it was a few months ago and I know nothing of him. My partner was my dad."

Aerrow-"The villagers said it was family owned,"

"And it still is." I said defensively. "Even if I'm the last family left. Where are your parents?"

Aerrow-"We're orphans technically but we're more than enough family for each other." He responded giving the Ralemit a treat.

Stork-"Are those going to eat us?" I looked up where he pointed. The pterodactyls were in the sky which meant we were close to the village.

"Not at all. They're pets like your ralemit. But they're more common than crystal rides. They're used by merchants to get their stock from one place to another. A crystal ride wouldn't hold as much. Crystal rides are mostly used by tourists or travelers." I said, watching Piper writing it all down.

Aerrow-"Ralemit?"

"Radarr," I nodded. "There's some of him around here." _Ralemits can be seen from time to time. These guys would have seen more if they were from here..._

Radarr squacked happily.

Aerrow-"Hey, maybe we've found your origin."

Piper-"What else can you tell us about this place?"

"Not much else really…This village is one of three called Creet and with the other villages you get the name Cretaceous."

"Well, where can I get some crystals?"

"Bsides the market? In the deserted parts of this land. They grow from the ground and stones can be harvested from the geodes that can be found in some of the caves. The geodes can also be used as incubators. There are different kinds of stones and crystals around but where you can find them varies. My dad and I used to harvest them together. Even travel far to get others. Road trips were the best."

Piper-"To other Terras?"

"What do you mean Terras?"

"Clusters of land that sprout from the Wastelands."

"I never heard of those places,"

Aerrow-"We're just unfamiliar with this area,"

"Very unfamiliar I'd say. No, as far as I've gone, this is just one flat land but I've heard of an underwater world,"

Stork-" ?"

"You know, mermaids and sprites."

Piper-"So cool!"

"Well, yeah I guess," I admitted. "But I have no idea if it's true."

Junko-"There it is!" I looked up and saw their ship. It was parked behind some of the spikes of the cliffs.

"You came through the cliffs?"

Piper-"I knew it!"

**AN: Latem wears black knee high combat boots show, knee high socks, shorts with a v shaped waist held up by crisscross belts below the belly button, leather belts going across the top of the abdomen and a sleeved shirt, one long sleeve the other short and driving gloves. She has glowy blue green hair gray eyes, haircut similar to Starling's, and about her age too.*look for the green haired girl from ep 1, she's in the scene where Piper says they have to be registered to be official***

**So is this better? If you think so in your review then by next week the first two chapters will be fixed.**


	4. Episode4: Lark Sighting

**For a plan to FINALLY end the war.**

EP4:Latem's POV

Their cruiser that they called "The Condor" was massive, gargantuan!

"Woah…" I noticed the holes, tears and massive scratches not just in the paint job but at the metal itself.

"Yeesh, are you sure you just crash landed? It looks like you've been in battle,"

Piper-"Yeah, it must have gotten snagged on the…cliffs!" I cocked an eyebrow. _Sure…their business wasn't mine anyway. In battle to get their friend back? Such loyalty…_

Junko-"We are!"

Stork-"I'm also the helmsman…"

"I need you show me the insides of your cruiser to see what I've got to work with."

They showed me the belly, that metal was still functional but the grates were very beaten down. There were dents _everywhere…What a nightmare!_ I hid my horror. Besides that, the vents had to be inspected, the gears cleaned and greased as well as replacing the metal that was actually just patches smashed together, literally I'm guessing the Wallop Junko. The heat coils would have to be replaced, despite Stork insistence that with a few bangs of a wrench it went back to working order, and the engine…I whistled a long note.

"Your ship is…extremely outdated…"

Stork-"Humph"

"I meant that she's pretty beaten up…" I said backtracking. I wouldn't want anyone talking about my ride that way either.

"Apart from that, your engine won't be ale to handle the strength of the crystals from here..."

"Can you update it?" asks Aerrow. I looked at all of their worried and hopeful faces. I smirked, not that I thought of myself as the greatest Aeronautic Crystal Engineer in all of Cretaceous. Well at least Creet.

"I am the best, but I'm gonna need a lot of man power…" Finn has his hands in fists, jumping up and down like he can barely contain himself.

Finn-"S-weet, she's into engines!"

* * *

**In Master Cyclonis's makeshift lair...**

Master Cycloniss's POV

I sat on my throne made of rock, but with indentations in them that will one day hold a new collection of crystals, watching over the construction of what was supposed to be my new crystal lab strong enough to hold the high grade crystals from the FarSide and hone its energy.

It was supposed to be finished a long time ago but the Nightcrawlers were slow and the GuardDogs were far too large to carry out such a delicate and fragile construction. Every now and then I growled, but I didn't have anyone to complain to. Until now. Dark Ace walks in right on time.

"Thanks to the Storm Hawks I'm at a disadvantage but they aren't doing so well themselves."

"The Condor must be in shambles,"

"Hmmm, things happen for a reason I suppose. More importantly, are you still with me?" I caught the slight hesitation from him, whatever of?

"I remain your humble servant." I narrowed my eyes.

"Good. And don't get carried away with your new form." I shifted my sight back to the Nightcrawlers. It was just because of the despair of the situation I forced the power of the Chrysanthemum into him. I don't even know what power he possesses, and he doesn't either. I just have to keep it that way until I know. Knowledge is power. It is how I was able to cause grief.

* * *

**With the Storm Hawks...**

Piper's POV

Latem led us back to the market, telling us stories of her dad which we all listened to carefully. None of us had parents before and we had no idea what they were like. _Gee, what were Cycloniss's parents like?_

Someone far away sneezed.

This time we weren't going to wander around to find what we need. In fact Latem already knew where to find the things. Finn and Junko used their cart and hands to carry what Latem picked she needed. We'd gotten here in the afternoon, I guess it just looked like night time in Cyclonia, but we were losing daylight. Latem figured that we should split up the shopping list so that we could lug it all back to the Condor and we'll just have to get started in the morning.

Junko had to get rolls of sheet metal so that the already worn metal could be replaced, Finn was to get lots of new screws, nuts, and bolts where as Aerrow and I decided to stock some supplies we know we're low on. Latem was the expert, and Aerrow was so sweet, he opted to do the groceries, leaving me to finding some crystals I could handle to start with before venturing any farther with the Crystal science from the FarSide.

_Hopefully I can find someone who can handle the low grade crystal from here so they could teach me…_I wandered to a quaint little shop and I was going to filter through the selection the woman had when I heard a small gasp. I looked up but I only saw a girl slip into the crowd of people gathered around._ I know I recognize the blond hair…Nah, it could be anyone Piper…_But I followed.

"Excuse me! Pardon me, sorry! Let me through!" I was about to lose the girl but I managed to catch her before she made it completely out of the crowd.

"Lark!" As if out of instinct, she turned back. I saw her eyes, they widened before she took off on her obviously new Skyride.

"CY-!" I take off too but she sped off, leaving me in the dust. Literally. I coughed and waved my hand.

_It's her, she's close. How many Larks can there be? Sick…she was even wearing the same clothes…Lark, Lark, why Lark? Could that be her real name?_

I let my mind wander as I searched for Aerrow. Latem left his side to inquire about something while he waited with a few things in his arms.

"Aerrow!"

"Piper, get anything?"

"Not a single crystal but I think I saw Lark-No, I _know_ it was Lark,"

"What do you mean? Lark as in Cyclonis?" I sighed.

"I guess so..." _Lark likes crystals too…_"She was at the same shop-"

"Did she see you?"_ I didn't even think of that!_

"Yeah, I ran after her…"

"Piper-!"

"We have what we can carry. Let's get started!" said happily Latem, interrupting Aerrow's lecture. It's obvious that she enjoys building and repairing. She leaves us again to place her load onto Junko and waves us over when she sees we've stayed where we were.

"Well at least we know she's close…" Aerrow said, as we walked side by side.

"And so does she…"

* * *

**AN: So? Oh if you want a pun or a reference in the show, write it as a review and I'll see if I can work it in. I've got Norse and Greek mythology and Scooby-Do from forums on Storm Hawks. Yes I do my research for you. :)**


	5. Episode5: New Plan

**For the Condor. The poor **_**magnificent**_** thing!**

EP5:Latem's POV

**With the Storm Hawks...**

Finn put on some rock music, which I kind of liked the sound of that band, to work with.

I assigned the strongman, Junko to lifting the new metal and holding it up as Aerrow and Radarr screwed it down. Piper used her crystals, levitation crystals she called them, to hold the material up for me to weld. They wanted to keep as much of the original aircraft as possible, for sentimental reasons, something I understood completely.

Finn once called out where we 'missed a spot'. I threw a nut at him and told him:

"I was told you were a handy man. So far I'm not impressed!"

Aerrow:"So what's it like to get smacked down by a girl?"

"You tell me." Finn answered back smoothly. He walked past an Aerrow with a 'touché' expression, smugly.

"Hmmm…"

It took all day to fix the outside. And even then we had to upgrade the heat coils, the blasters, the engine then replace them with Turbo crystals…reinforce the- I took a deep breath. _We're going to do a lot of traveling_…I thought, recalling all of the crystal excavation sites and caves. High in the large stalagamites and underwater.

We stood back, the sun setting behind us, to check out our work.

"Whoo..." Aerrow whistled. Stork chuckled anticipating.

"She's awesome..." Everyone smiled and laughed, high five-ing each other.

**They look to their right, and the camera follows **

I revved the crystal-powered screwdrivers in my hands.

Finn:"Chicks and power tools are my new favorite thing!" He exclaimed under his breath, elbow-ing Aerrow who shook his head at him.

"Hmmrgh..."

**Fades to black...**

* * *

**In Cycloniss's lair...**

Cycloniss's POV

_Curse that Piper! The binding was supposed to finish her now-….I have to do it myself._

"Did you get it?" I was grateful he interrupted the feeling of dread.

"Does it_ look_ like I got it?!" I didn't bother giving him a glare.

_Argh, what now?! _I swept my current experiment off the table. Luckily it didn't explode.

"What happened," I notice the slight patronizing tone.

"I know how close the Storm Hawks are. That at least will be useful." _I needn't justify anything, I'm losing it!_

"Were you seen?" My mind replayed the amateur mistake I made. _Looking back to the call of my best girlfriend! She's not supposed to mean anything!_

"Leave. I have no use for you right now." He always took silent steps, it's what made him great at stealth but he's become _clumsy…_I have to get a door installed.

**She's thought of an invasion for a split second.**

(please review! :)

* * *

**In the bow of the Condor...**

Latem's POV

"I got a copy of a map of Creet from Roamer. It expands to the borders of Creet but no farther than that. At least from this you can see which roads to take to get to Stace and Cious." I said, unraveling the rolled up map on their round table.

Piper-"Woah, what paint is this?" she said, feeling the surface.

"Acrylic? What do you work with?"

Piper-"Watercolour? It...wears off." I looked over my shoulder to another map that really needed a touch up.

"So that's Atmos…Uh, I guess apart from crystals we need to get you basic utilities."

Aerrow-"Speaking of crystals, how far do we have to travel?"

Finn-"You're coming with us right?" He asked hurriedly.

"Someone has to hold your hand, and we'll go as far as we have to." I hadn't gone to re-stock so I wasn't sure if crystals have continued to form.

"I'll be coming along to help you guys out."

Aerrow-"That sounds great,"

Piper-"And you'll teach me?"

"I said I would didn't I?"

Piper-"Uh-right!"

"We'll learn from each other along the way."

Finn-"Oh yeah, road trip! Oh-yeah, oh-yeah, OH-yeAH!"

"And there'll be none of that." Stork stopped crushing his ears, Piper smirked.

Finn-"Please, I'm the life."

"This trip will have no life to begin with without Turbo crystals and better rides."

Aerrow-"But we don't have_ time_," Junko nodded, and Radarr squawked.

"I get you're in a rush," Both he and Piper. "But the world wasn't created in one day. Besides, what's one more day?"

Finn-"Yeah, we could use a little down time," he said, slipping on some shades and sticking out his trigger fingers at me. I switched my incredulous expression for a conspiring one.

"In the engines tomorrow? I'm glad you're so enthusiastic."

Junko-"So you're going to stay?!" he said happily.

"Uh…"

Aerrow-"Why not? It's more convenient,"

Piper-"And we already have an extra room ready. Starling won't mind." I gripped the edges of the table and forced a smile on my face.

"Sure…"

* * *

I ended up eating dinner with them, since apparently I was going to stay the night. Dad and I spent lots of nights sleeping outside under the firelights. The bugs shone yellow in the green-ish night sky. But I never slept over...

Aerrow-"Uh Finn, why don't you help Piper with the dishes,"

Finn-"Ah-"

Piper-"Who wants the last sand cake?" All of the guys followed her into the kitchen.

"That doesn't sound appealing, cake out of sand?"

"Ha ha, not at all."

"Obviously otherwise I'd have lots of questions."

"I actually have some of my own," I stopped moving my glass mid way to my lips.

"Alright…"

"Did anything strange happen in the last few months?"

"Besides my Dad disappearance and you guys? Nothin'. Wait…red stars."

"Red stars?"

"Mmmhmm. I'm not even sure if they _were_ stars. No one's ever seen anything like it before. They went up then down, to ground it seemed like. Never saw it again."

"That is odd…"

"And I'm guessing it doesn't help,"

"No…but maybe it'll come in handy. About your Dad,"

"What about him?"

"I know you're planning to look for him. If I knew who mine was I'd look for him. Any idea where he could be?"

"No, and what's it to you?"

"I, I want to help-"

"Don't you have enough problems?"

"Sure but if there's anything-"

"There's nothing. I mean, thanks but no thanks." I put my water down, frustrated with myself.

"I'm still dealing with it." My project helped but in _that_ environment, there was no getting away.

"I totally understand. If we can return the favor, don't hesitate to ask,"

"Oh, I won't. This is the largest job I ever had to do." I said smiling evilly.

**AN:Thank you NavyDigiDestined3! This is for all of you. **


	6. Episode6: Merbian Lettuce

**For Latem.  
**

EP6:Latem's POV

Piper came in drying her hands off with a towel.

Finn-"It wasn't even a lot of dishes, I can't believe you needed help with it," he complained.

Piper-"I needed you to dry them and Junko's the only one tall enough to put them in the cupboards." Finn looked at her like he didn't believe her. I had my suspicions as well.

Piper-"So if you guys are done here...We'll take those plates away," she stacked them up and gave them to Finn.

"It isn't a lot, you can take care of them. Follow me Latem, I'll take you to our spare bedroom." I got up to follow her slowly, beginning to feel the lull of the night.

Aerrow-"Finn, Junko let's get started on those dishes shall we?" I scrunched my eyebrows. I looked around, finding their home strange. _I never been inside a cruiser before...just outside to fix it_.

"Here it is," The motion sensor system I re-programmed opened the door. _So this is what a girls room looked like_...All I had was a hammock. I hadn't live in our house at the back of the garage since Dad left, disappeared...

"Does this belong to the friend you're looking for?"

"Hmm...it probably would have been hers if she hadn't..." she shook her head.

"I'm sure you'll find her," suddenly feeling the need to keep her motivated.

"You just...have to hope she wants to be found. Can't find someone who doesn't." She nodded her head thoughtfully, then smiled.

"Sleep well Latem."

She walked out of the room, the door sliding closed. I looked round where I was, shifting my weight and swinging my arms. I sat on the bed, I sort of forgotten how they felt like. The soft to sturdy ratio was fine. _Don't make yourself comfortable _said a voice. I sighed.

_I sure do hope you're okay dad..._

* * *

**In the caves...  
**

"Here are the maps of all the crystals growths that I know of Master," said the 'leader' of the Nightcrawlers. He just passed on my orders to the rest; I owned all of them.

"Good. Gather the Nightcrawlers and prepare my ride," I turned away.

"We're going on a road trip." I glared over my shoulder.

"Hope for your sake I get what I want..." He bowed before running off. I went back to my new crystal machine but turned to the Dark Ace's footsteps.

"And where have _you_ been?"

"Out...for. a. walk." _I didn't actually care. _I turned back to my experiment.

"Hmmrgh, maintain your focus. We'll run into the Storm Hawks soon enough, I'm sure. Don't embarrass yourself , _especially_ me, I don't have the patience nor the time for any more failures..."

**Dark Ace activates his second form, looking down at the Master's abilities**

Cyclonia was the winning side under Anarchis...I should have know despite being her grandaughter you're still just a child...**His mind reminds him that her maturity was on the inside, in her successful experiments, and her words...He's left unsure once more. It isn't the first time he's had that debate with himself.**

* * *

I don't know how I did it but I slept, albeit with my shoes on. _That was best sleep I've had since..._

Walking out to the bow, I saw the helmsman looking around with the ship's periscopes.

"Looking for disaster?"

"A-ah!" The strangest scream I've ever heard.

"Oh…it's _you. _Yeah maybe I am _somebody_'s gotta do the worrying…" Stork had this way of speaking that made the most mundane thing comical.

"I've lived here my whole life, I'm pretty sure if there's anything out there with a fetish for people it would have eaten us by now."

"Like a Verroc? The pterodactyls of yours look dangerous-"

"Dude, they're vegetarian, leave 'em alone. What's a Verroc?"

"Carnivors…." His eye twitched. I shook my head, just as the others came out of the hall, Aerrow and Piper already up an at 'em where as Finn and Junko were still rubbing sleep away from their eyes.

Aerrow-"Good to see you guys are up,"

Finn-"Ye-eah,"

"Good to see most of you are,"

Aerrrow-"Now, for the first stop-"

Stork-"Aren't you forgetting something?" We all looked at him questionably.

* * *

Stork-"Merbian lettuce is part of a complete, nutritious, and balanced breakfast," He walked around the table, behind our seats, chin up and index finger pointing up.

We were all picking at the 'lettuce', Finn used his fork to prop it up and smell it to see if the smell was worse up close, only to pull back harshly.

"Heh heh, I'd hate to see what the rest is like," I whispered.

Finn-"Yeah, no kidding. I'd rather eat grits," I shuddered.

"Ew, no." Stork stuck his face between us, still giving his speech.

"And don't forget, there's no expiration date." Finn and I grinned at each other when he pulled away.

Aerrow-"Eh…Stork…"

Piper-"As much as we, egh, appreciate you 'making' breakfast this morning-"

"I, have a better idea…"

Stork-"Hmph." Junko listened on, chewing one of the three on his plate.

* * *

**AN: I said Vulca-Bats and someone corrected me, thank you, and it's been changed to Verrocs, technically their carnivors since the big one swallowed Finn in that Vapos episode.**

**The Occucrows from Terra Zartacla would have worked too XD**


	7. Episode7: Ready, Set, GO!

**For...Crystals? I don't know...FOR VILLAINS AND HEROES TRASH TALKING!**

EP7: Latem's POV

"Eating out was a great idea!" Finn said, getting comfortable in his stool.

"Don't worry about the check, I'm the repair man for the joint so I've earned unlimited free eating." The cook served us herself, the traditional breakfast from this village.

"Awesome!"

"S'good to see ya Latem."

"You too ma'am Mana," We shook hands.

"Who'er all yer friends?"

"These are Finn, Junko, Aerrow, Piper, and Stork." Stork had lifted the crepe, sniffed it and dropped it.

"Eh...they're visiting for a bit."

"Oh well best make sure you see all of Crete before you go on."

"Latem has been taking care of that very well." Piper assured.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me asking, have you seen anything unusual in the last, say, weeks?" Aerrow asked her. I knew they weren't here to vacation but what _were_ they investigating…?

"What do you mean son?"

"Ah...anything out of the ordinary, you know, out of place."

"Well I ain't sure but them Hoodlums have been away for a long time. Night attacks were almost nightly not too long ago."

"Hoodlums?"

"Ma'am don't worry about it, those men over there are starting to get impatient." I said, trying to get her to leave. Mana wasn't understanding why they needed to know about them.

"Can't have angry, hungry men now can we?" I smiled and shook my head. Dad and I ate here and she was sort of like a mother figure.

"Are you guys hunting down Hoodlums?" I asked once she was out of earshot.

"We think their traces can lead us to our...friend."

"Hate to break it to you but the people taken by them have never returned. There's a rumor going around that they eat people, making them all the more terrifying."

"Well, we're sure that's not the case."

"You're sure of lots of things but I'm not."

"Stork! Stop looking at people's food!" I heard Piper scold. I gave a quick look before turning back.

"The nearest crystals are a few skylometers from the garage and if we don't find any, the other reserves are even farther away. I hope your stomach can keep up."

"Trust me, we were meant for speed."

* * *

"Step right up! If you can beat the fastest time, you have the chance to win this very rare, very large turbo crystal! Imagine, riding faster than the speed of light and sound! It can be yours but only if you step right up and beat the fastest time! You'll have the chance-" My head lifted up and I swear my ears twitched when I heard a man's voice yell those words at the top of his lungs to get everyone's attention.

"What's going on?" Aerrow asked. There was a hoard of people up the street and it was curiouser when they all gave a collective "Aww..." and clapped, whistled and cheered.

"Better luck next time, who's next?!"

"All I need to know is that there's a HUGE turbo crystal!" I said and ran towards the crowd.

"Let's go check it out!" I heard Piper yell behind me. I wormed through the crowd and was pushed forward by the others who were trying to get me away from them. We stood in front of the crowd and obtained the man's attention.

"Do you kids care to give it try...?"

"Let me see the prize." I growled. He stepped aside and waved his arm.

"Feast your eyes,"

_That's unusually large, even for a turbo. If it's real it would be worth a lot of gold, it would make us targets but the Condor could run for weeks and possibly a few months.._.

"What do we have to do!" Finn said, stepping forward from behind, I barely managed to pull him back.

"Finn!"

"It's simple. Finish the course in under one minute and fifty eight seconds and it's all yours," I narrowed my eyes. _So simple ah_?

"There's a chance that it isn't real." I said.

"Can you tell from here?"Aerrow asked.

"Of course not, it requires a closer inspection to check the authenticity."

"You're the only one who knows the location of the nearest reserves; You go with Finn and Junko, just in case," He said looking at them meaningfully._ Is he expecting that we run into trouble?_

"Piper and I will win it, just in case, and she can see if it's authentic. Sound like a plan?"

"Sure. If it has a number engraved anywhere it's a fake, drop it and it brakes, fake, if you try to use it and it loses power in minutes, fake. I'll double check when I get back anyway. If it _is_ real, then we lucked out big time."

"So do we have a new contestant or what?"

" You have two! Good luck,"Aerrow wished.

"You too. Let's go guys!"

* * *

Piper's P.O.V.

Latem and the rest of the team trailed after her, pushing their way out of the ring. I turned to the elaborate obstacle course.

"Goodie! Well the competition wouldn't be fun if we don't make it interesting. Whichever one of you beats the fastest time, you have to go again but this time, with the last record holder running against you. The one of the two that high-fives the giant teddy bear's paw wins the crystal!"

"I _know_ one of us will win Piper, who's the opponent?"

He gestured towards a petite blond in pink. She had the audacity to wave and grin like the bubbly friend she pretended to be all those months ago.

"Cycloniss."

"Well whatever you call this whirlwind, she beat everyone so far!" A few people, young and old, grumbled.

"I can't _imagine_ why you would need such a crystal," she said oh so sweetly.

"We can." we said in unison.

"Oh I'm sure." she winked.

"Wow looks like there's a little something else going on in here. We got ourselves a good show going on here folks! Come on, talk some smack, give a little love to the crowd!"

"Pest!" She called, her real personality shinning through.

"Brat!" I retorted.

"Loser! Pathetic!" I yelled. Her face fell and she gave me an emotionless smile.

"Look who's talking."

The hype man guffawed. He was really getting on my nerves.

"You boy will go first,"

"My name's Aerrow."

"Whatever, what's yer name?"

"Piper."

"Give it up for Harold and Pepper!"

"Aerrow!" "Piper!" We cried simultaniously. Cycloniss smiled with her hands at her hips, so certain she was going to win.

"Ready?" The man called.

"Go get 'em Aerrow!" I encouraged.

"On your marks," Aerrow and Cycloniss moved to the starting line.

"Get set!" He crouched a little, ready to propel himself forward.

"GO!"

**Something happened and the coding for the italics and stuff were ****written out. So annoying but I fixed it, sorry about it.**

**I have publish a news fics, Storms Made Us (AXC) and FORGTTEN (OC) check it out 'kay? And then there's mine Starlight Star Bright and What a Wonderful Life which has been up for a while.**


	8. Episode8: Fight, Fight!

**For Good Sportmanship.**

EP8: Piper's POV

Aerrow jumped onto the slanted beams, and lunged from side to side to make it across to the rings where he had to swing to each one to go on to the next section.

_He's going too fast, he's going to get tired..._

He landed on a platform and from there he had to walk on a log to the other side. Then he had to run to get momentum to jump and pull himself up a wall.

After that he had to climb up a rope. He struggled really hard on that one, it was cardio then upper body strength to balance then cardio again and upper body strength-It's a pattern, the obstacle course is rigged!

"Watch closely how your Sky Knight fails you,"

"Shut up Cycloniss, because _I_ plan on beating _you_. You just worry about that."

"Hmph."

"Come on Aerrow, you can do it!" He dove into a downward tunnel, he must have dove in wrong because we all heard him grunt as he slid down awkwardly inside.

Coming out you can see he was breathless. He had to go through the tires, more cardio, and jump over a log like revers limbo. In order to win the crystal he had to clear it without taking out the log.

But because he was too tired, he didn't get a good jump on it and the log collapsed under him.

"Ah!"

"Aerrow!"

* * *

**Latem's P.O.V.  
**

I ran to the local pterodactyl stable with the rest running after me.

"Sir, sir!" I yelled. The care taker was taking off the saddles from the backs of the birds.

"We need four please,"

"Oh, uh..." Finn, Junko and Stork just caught up.

"I'm afraid I only have three-"

"Deal!"

* * *

**Back to Piper...  
**

"Well one down, one to go!" I ran to him.

"Aerrow are you okay?" I took his arm over my shoulders and supported his weight.

"Yeah those bags of rice aren't soft though,"

"Too bad, he looked like he was going to win."

"You better do better than your leader Piper, or I'll win..." she said with a smile.

"Maybe the battle, but not the war." I pulled Aerrow to a chair that someone kindly provided.

"It's okay if we don't win Piper I-"

"I will, I'm lighter so I'm sure I'll make the jump."

"Cycloniss plays dirty, so be careful."

"Just worry about that bump on your head."

"Alright kid if _you_ fail, then this girl wins the crystal. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

"Hear that everybody?! Now, *horn blares*"

* * *

**Back to Latem...**

Stork-"I think-I'm gonna hurl...hmmrgh!" The up and down movements of the bid's flying wasn't good for his stomach.

"Not on Sandy your not!" I yelled.

Finn-"They have names?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah they do."

"Cool! What's mine?"

"Finn." I said with a grin. I passed a totally confused sharpshooter.

Junko-"Lily is such a sweet girl, he he!"

"Now let's hurry, crystal reserves are always subjected to bandits."

Finn-"Like those?" I looked towards the direction he was pointing at.

"No, that's new."

* * *

**The next scene is brought down from the right corner by the flap of Latem's pterodactyl...**

We went onto the ramps, Cycloniss managed to be on the ramp in front of me the rest of the way but while she walked on the log, I was shimming up on its belly risking that my hands got stepped on.

"Hey, that's cheatin'!" yelled the big man.

Aerrow-"I don't remember hearing you say she had to _walk_ over," I can imagine him giving the man the "I'm technically right, deal with it" smile.

We were tied at the wall and I fought to recover from the fall to get a head start at the rope put we were still head to head.

"You know *grunt* it doesn't matter if I don't get the _crystal_," she said pulling herself up.

"There's a team at the nearest_ crystal_ reserve picking up every single _one_ of them." She pulled herself up for the third time.

_...I'll check the nearest crystal reserve. Hopefully it isn't empty..._

That was what she said before the rest of the team head over here. I pulled harder and faster to catch up with Cycloniss who was a few spots above me.

"I'm not so worried about losing either Lark. We'll be the victors and in case you haven't noticed, half of the team isn't here!"

I dove into the tunnel leaving her behind.

* * *

**Let's catch up with the others...**

"RAWR!" The green-gray giant monster roared and hurled a rock from the ground at us.

"What** is** that!"

Finn-"We didn't officially meet!"

Stork-"Allow me...monster, us, us, GIANT MONSTER WAH!" He swerved away.

Sand flew into my eye and I instinctively pulled the reins back. Sunny of course flew down to land but a rock disrupted her path and we were going down. I fell off the side, hit a hump of rock and rolled down it.

"Well if it isn't the wimpiest of the lot." I heard a man say.

Stork-"Dark Ace."

"You're late, we've already packed them all so we won't be staying any longer."

Finn-"We're not letting you get away with that,"

Stork-"We aren't?" Junko found me and helped me up.

"Who's this guy?"

DarkAce-"You'll learn soon enough. Attack!" Three of five of those Hulks ran towards us. We sprawled.

DA-"Ha ha ha, head back to base." he ordered the other two who had giant carts of turbo crystals.

"Hey! That's more than _your_ share!"

DA-"Are you gonna _cry_?"

"I'll show you who's the girl here!" I ran and tackled him to the ground.

"Get off of me you pest!"

"Junko, stop them!"

Junko-"How?!" He was running around the area trying to get away from one of them. I looked and Finn and Stork weren't doing so well either.

"Argh!" Dark Ace or whatever pushed me off. He was strong. I took out a Flare crystal and turned away from it's bright light. It was brighter than the sun.

"Nyah!" I swept my leg from under him, taking him down, and ran to Sandy, the nearest one.

_Thanks Dad._

"Sandy, up! We're not letting him get away with _all_ of them."

* * *

**Back to the girlfriends at odds...**

I ran through the tires, buying me time to prepare for the jump.

"Ha!" **Slow mo of Piper twisting in mid-air so the arc gave her more height as she went over. Her shirt barely brushed the log.**

The crowd's cheer was deafening. The man pulled me up and held my arm up.

"There she is, our winner! What a surprise, I was sure blondie would win."

"I guess I did win huh?" She clapped softly.

"I can be a good sport friend." and she walked into the crowd, lost again. A friend of the large man gave him the prize to hand over to me. Aerrow limped over and gave my back a pat.

"You were awesome!"

"Move out of the way! Aerrow! Piper!" I turned to the yells of Finn. He and the other guys were running over.

Aerrow-"Hey, how'd it go?"

Finn-"Pretty good, but it's gonna get bad."

"What do you mean?" I saw Latem storm over here with a dark expression.

"What's going on, and I want the **truth**."

**AN- O-Spaghetti-os! Things are gonna get GOOD!  
**

**When the DA said pest, it's because the writers wouldn't have had him say freak. Censorship laws of inappropriate words on kids TV.**

Stork-"Ca-can we *wheeze* *wheeze* *thud* argh."

"Stork!"


	9. Episode9: Dad Will Have To Wait

**For Allies.**

EP9: Latem's POV

"Ah…" Aerrow stuttered. They were all absolutely speechless but Finn seemed the most afraid. Stork watched interestedly and Junko's eyes darted back and forth.

"Here's your prize, enjoy kid!" I know **I** hated being called 'kid' but they didn't pay attentioon to it. The man held out the crystal and I took it. The man looked between us and left.

"Well?" I asked, tossing and catching the bulbous rock.

Piper-"Latem," she look at Aerrow. _Asking for permission or what?_

"We lied because we didn't want to involve you but…since you've helped us, you were involved since when we decided to find you…" I remained with my arms crossed.

"That didn't answer my question." Finn came and wrapped an arm around me.

Finn-"Come on Latem, we're friends right?" His eyes pleaded with me and how could I be mad? he saved me from the green monsters...

"Let's talk somewhere more private," I said to the others.

The crowd was dissipated and we walked down the dirt road to the same diner for lunch. Both gorups did a lot of exercise and we were starving.

"So what's the story," I prompted as sson as the waitress left us.

Piper-"Did you see the blond girl?"

"The other competitor?"

"Yeah." I nod once.

"She's the person we're looking for but she's definitely not our friend."

"Are you going after her for revenge?" _It was the only logical __explanation..._

"Not exactly…Long story short?"

"I'd rather know everything."

Finn-"Brace yourself." he scoffed.

Aerrow-"Almost a century ago Atmos, land of a thousand mountaintop kingdoms, was once Cyclonia. The lives of the people were very bleak and unforgiving. Terra Nimbus was the Terra that invented and manufactured the Skyride that allowed people to travel to and from other Terras. This allowed for a squadron called Storm Hawks to form; Their mission was to free the Terras from the Emperor's grasp. After them more squadrons formed that protected one kingdom each as they were freed to prevent them from being taken over again.

Battles sprouted everywhere and eventually most of the Terras were freed. A decade ago, the last Storm Hawks squadron perished because of the leader's co-pilot, the Dark Ace, betrayed them and…Cyclonia won that battle. Ten years later three guardians appear and tell me I'm the last descendant of Lighning Strike, immediatly making me the Sky Knight and leader of the next Storm Hawks. I chose my friends to be my squadron.

The past eleven months we were fighting Cycloniss, granddaughter of the last Emperor or Empress to stop her from taking over the Terras that were saved and try to free more. A few days ago, she practically won. She had all of our friends and allies trapped inside a crystal, a prison brought from here. We managed to free them, take down her tower but she escaped through a portal that led here. We followed of course and…here we are now."

"The Dark Ace killed your father and now he works with this Cycloniss, the blond…?"

Piper-"She's not blond, em, her hair is naturally dark with a purple hue and her eyes are different shades of purple. She's wearing a chroma crystal used to change her appearance."

"It sounds like you two were close,"

"We…were but not for long. It's important, for the sake of Atmos and the FarSide that we cath her beore she harms anyone."

"That's why she's here?"

Aerrow-"Atmos and the FarSide, er Cretacious, are connected and she wants to take over **all** of Atmos."

I looked down at me full plate, untouched. I took my fork and unturned the potato.

"So what do we do?" I asked Aerrow, he was the leader after all. They exchanged looks.

Aerrow-"What do you mean?"

"If you think I'm going to let some _girl_ take my home or the homes of my nieghbors you got another thing coming. Besides, the Dark Ace wasn't so hard to handle; He didn't get away with _everything_." I bent to the side to get the pack from under my chair and dropped it on the table. Some crystals of the good haul spilled out.

Aerrow-"You'd help us?"

"Definitely. This can't wait." _I'm sorry dad, you **were** the one to teach me about priorities after all..._

Piper-"Awesome!"

Junko-"Yay!"

Finn-"Hey…you can bunk with me," he moved his eyebrows up and down.

"Uh, I don't think so. It's a good thing we slpit up by the way. I was checking this thing out walking over here," I said, turning it around in my hand.

"And just as I initially thought it's a fake but we have all of this, and there's more in their bags. We probably have most of a crate…unfortunately the Dark Ace had two cratefulls to start with. Oh yeah, I met your other friend."

Finn-"Aerrow, you should have seen her, she was awesome!"

Junko-"He-yeah she sure is brave,"

Stork-"And we almost died."

"Uh..thanks you guys,"

Aeerrow-"We should eat so Latem and Piper can install the crystals and we can _finally_ get on the road."

We dug into our birds, there isn't much grass so farm animals don't thrive here, and washed it down with cider.

Back at the Condor Piper and I installed the Turbo crystals, the last thing needed to take off, and then we went straight to the maps to set up a course for the next destination.

"Unfortunately it's pretty farr away. Where ever this Cycloniss is, if she was at the race then she isn't far. Within a few miles or a dozen more if she has access to a pteradacyl or a Skyride."

Piper-"And if she's on the look out for crystals then she hasn't got it all together!"

"And that means we'll run into her more."

Finn-"So where to next?" _Well he's not bad of a fighter..._

"To the Coal Trench. We use coals to cook and warm the house at night. Coal mining is one of the occupancies here but the mine of Hades collapsed and isn't used anymore. The fire burned from then on and still does as strong as it was on that day. They're we'll find strong Crystals that we can use as weapons."

Aerrow-"I think we'll run into Cycloniss at the reserves that could be used as weaponry. We didn't see her take anything with her,"

"Maybe she's unprepared but…by what you told me about her, it's best not to take chances. So we head North East,"

**AN; 'Northeast' because Tropica is Southwest and according to my map, the Barrier Cliffs separates Cyclonia from the FarSide, like a triangle so one side of it seperates the desert Terra that the Storm Hawks were on before they got to the Battle platform in 'Stratosphere'**

**And review, making up episodes is hard and I need the encouragement!**


	10. Episode10: Hell Hole

**For revelations…it's almost time for the truth to be told.**

EP10:Laten's POV

We took our doggy bags and went back to the Condor. Stork immediately took us off the ground and we were on our way. Piper took my satchel that I filled with maps and my inventory of crystals that I had in the garage. She was filing through it and I was hunched over the table next to her going over it. It was cool to teach someone who understood.

* * *

**At Cycloniss' Batcave…Cycloniss' POV**

A few yards from the cave's mouth, I ripped off the Chroma Crystal and put it in the small satchel at my waist that was meant for the Turbo crystal. _Now to see if the Dark Ace did his part..._

_Piper on the other hand hasn't changed a bit…Still strong, smart, and able as always…I could win with her on my side__…_My small smile disappeared as it came. _But she refused my off and so she 'll meet my wrath the same as the rest..._

I drove through the mouth, parked in the space there as a green monster rolled a rock infront of the opening.

"_And my delivery_…?"

"This way Master," the 'lead' Nughtcrawler wheezed. I was lead to the underground floor, it had the perfect temperature for crystals that grew from underground reserves and caves.

"_And you __inspected these…?"_

_"Yes Master, they're perfect for use…" _I said, looking over the one I took into my hand.

_"Good."_

"Master."

"_You didn't dissappoint me Dark Ace_…"

"The past is in the past."

"Unfortunately history tends repeat itself…_And now for the big __**bang**__…_" I thrust my cape around, picked up my staff at the door.

"_Let's get our flame on_…"

* * *

**At the Condor, around the table...**

"Where did you say we were going again?" Finn said in a high voice.

"The Hell Hole."

Aerrow-"That's a…very…." he trailed off.

"Yeah. My dad and I we're two of the few crazy enough to cultivate there. But it's our best bet, it's so dangerous that even bandits don't risk their lives to raid it and the crystals are _valuable_." I laughed.

All of the guys looked at me worried, Stork's head jerked from one person to the next in different directions. Piper was already thinking of the technicalities.

"I'm guessing Cycloniss wouldn't here but her minions would do the dirty jobs." Piper nodded, still looking at the the many sketches of the Hole that I had.

"So how do we do this," he asked, joinning piper.

**Stepping carefully into the Hole:**"We hike down to as close as we can get to the bottom, lower Radarr **(his expression says 'Not Happy')**

"Careful not to touch the rocks!" I yelled down at him. He squawked and gave a thumbs up.

"Just get the crystals and we'll get you out!" Aerrow held on to the lne Radarr was on and I was on standby to pull up the sack when it was full.

"_You're_ still here?" said a familiar, pesty voice. Radarr squawked in fear, the rest of us looked up. There was a fleet of skimmers with the emblem I have familiarized myself with at the Condor.

"Oh, it's you." I respoded disinterested.

Aerrrow-"Dark Ace!"

DA-"One is company, two is a bore." he said jumping down. Sparks flew and we had to turn away for a second.

"I agree, now go away!" I grumbled. Radarr started to pluck out the crystals as fast as he could, dodging the mini eruptions from the exploding rocks.

" _After_ I get what I came for." he does a leap of faith into the hole, and I finally notice the rope around his waist. Radarr freaks out and I see Hoodlums at the top, growling at the rest of the gang.

Aerrow-"Radarr!"

"Grrr…" I loop my rope aroung a rock and tie it to free my hands so I can throw rocks, the only weapon at hand, at any of them.

My first target was one of the Hoodlums that looked to be the leader. He growled the most and swept his arms to get the others to back off.

I aimed and fired, Aerrow is trying to get the Hoodlum holding the DA to drop him, Radarr is trying to fight the DA and get the crystals we need. The strangest thing was that the lead Hood wasn't fighting back. He _ignored_ my hits.

We weren't getting anywhere. There was a tie at the top, Radarr was hanging on the rope I tied and it was starting to slip, and the DA was crawling out of the hole.

DA-"Get me out of here!"

Aerrow-"Come on Radarr, let's get you out!" he grunted. I helped him pull up and our sack, thankfully full enough.

DA-"Next time, no mercy!" he said hopping onto his ride.

"Maybe you'll give us an actual challenge for a change yeah?!"

DA-"Nya!" he grunts and takes off, the Hoodlums after him. The leader dawddled a little and looked past the others to me at the back. I turned my head slightly but I couldn't see his face from under the hood. He left quickly, and I immediately had this feeling of familiarity.

Piper-"Do you think we have enough?" she asked, rifling through the sack.

"Uh…think so." I responded, recovering from the odd departure.

"Aerrow-"He seemed a little more in a bad mood when he left than usual."

"You mean that's not his usual behavior?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow. He laughed.

"Let's get this on the ship and take off oursleves. Good job Radarr." we all walked to the ship, smiling at our success.

**AN:I'm still in his and I hope you're all still sticking with me. Let me know below, thank you :)**


	11. Episode11: Pairings

**For Cycloniss, because she's clueless.**

EP11:Dark Ace's POV

I was sick of the same old dance.

_"Did you get them…?"_

"No." Her expecting me to succeed everytime, getting _defeated_ everytime, and have to return to deal with _her_ ontop of it all. I never look forward to reporting back.

She turned around slowly.

_"'The past is in the past' eh?…" And there she goes..._

_"All you were supposed to do was get a bag full!"_

"Do what you can with this." I said disinterestedly, shaking the bag over the table letting the crystals roll out.

_"Erghhh you're useless…"_ She looked at the three crystals, inspecting them from where she stood.

"Why don't you try doing it yourself for a change?" I marched out of there and drove away, around to the back of the stalagmite cave.

* * *

**Cycloniss' POV**

_What is wrong with him?!_

"Yargh!" I blasted a hole through the wall of the cave.

_Honestly__…_I skimmed through our past. We were always on the same page, take over Atmos, but now? He was losing his mind!

* * *

**Dark Ace's POV**

"Mrgh…" I grumbled. _I'm sick of this_...

I parked and hopped off to swing my blade to blow off some steam. I've been realizing that although my strength hadn't increased per se my new form allowed me to lift heavy weights and suffer minimal damage. I was charged with crystal energy, making my eyes glow brightly and giving my blade's power a boost. A single swing streaks power through a stalagmite double the width of a person and cuts it in half. One blast is enough to blow a hole through another.

_Now Master Cycloniss isn't the strongest…_

* * *

Aerrow-"So where to next?"

"Tournami crystals. They're only found in a tide pool in the sea so I hope you know how to swim."

A-"Tide pools?" Finn-"Augh, can't we take a break?" I looked between them, unsure to who to answer first.

"Uhh pools made by the tide and a break wouldn't be a bad idea." We fought those Hoodlums with karate, or at least I did and they used Sky Fu, a form of martial arts from their lands.

F-"See? She agrees."

"It will be really nice. When the tide comes up and down it pulls sand with it and sometimes creates holes that fill up sea water and tiny marine animals."

Piper-"It sounds beautiful…"

"It really is. Dad and I went there all the time. The Starfish are my favorite…" For some reason the 'face' of the Hoodlum invaded my. _Could he have been taken by them?_

"We can mix work and play…" I said smiling to Aerrow then rolling my head to wink at Finn.

F-"H-alright…"

"It'll defenitely take at least a day to get there so we have some down time before hand."

Stork-"After running into the Dark Ace twice in 24 hours, I think we're gonna need it."

"You deserve to chill Stork, I'm sorry you've been traumatized what with riding a pterodactyl and going to the Hell Hole…"

"Thank you! At least someone appreciates the carrier pilot…"

Junko-"I'll take care of dinner!"

"NO!" I've been told that Junko has a love for _live_ cuisine...

A-"It's Finn's turn, let him do it." he explained.

F-"Wha…"

"I'll help." I slapped his thigh and jogged to the kitchen.

It's a good thing we got the kitchen stocked up otherwise we would be in trouble these next few days. Somehing told me things weren't going to settle down for a while.

F-"What's the plan?"

"Mmm…How's Orzo salad with potato skins and chicken breast?"

"Nice!" he laughed.

Finn was excellent help in the kitchen. Maybe he couldn't cook to save his life but he was good at stirring and getting the fruit set up.

"I think I'm gonna going you guys the next time you play Berry Blitz. The Dark Ace sounded like a menace but he's down right annoying-" Finn laughed causing me too.

"hah…heheh um but yeah, I got steam to release."

"I actually hold the record." he waved his eyebrows.

"You're on!" He didn't propose a contest but I agreed to one.

He also had lots of stories, that doubled as secrets, to tell. Like the time he broke Junko's favorite bunny lamp, lost his knickle busters, and faced a terrifying cowboy.

"I've got _lots_ of those,"

"You _have_ to tell me all of them!"

We got it done, got a pie for desert, and served dinner. Aerrow overheard Finn tell me the stories in which he failed but managed an epic save.

"Oh yeah? How about that time you fell into the engine, had to be in a cast and got an itch on your butt?"

A-"Uh…"

"And Piper watched someone scratch it?"

A-"That someone was _you_ or don't you remember?" he said smiling smugly.

"I wish I didn't." I laughed.

"Lot's of more stories that's for sure!"

A-"Want some pie Pi?" they smiled.

"Mmm-hmm!" _How adorable..._

We turned in, bunking with Piper was no longer awkward. I actually liked it, it was like having a younger sister.

"Want some pie Pi?" I taunted. She threw a pillow at my head and pounced on me.

"Hey Finn's always in LaLa land Latem!"

"What?" I laughed.

"You wouldn't make fun of it when it's your turn."

I had no idea what Piper meant by about Finn but I definitely pushed away the prospect of finding love myself. Finding Dad and stopping Cycloniss was top priority.


	12. Episode12: Done

**For the Dark Ace. It's about time you old man...**

EP12: Latem's POV

I woke up before Piper, before anyone. I've been waking up early and sleeping late working on a ride to give it strong, long-lasting resilience, and energy efficient back at the garage. It was me and Dad's project. We were close to being done too. It required tests on every part that went into it. I was in charge of that while Dad welded everything together. Progress was even slower now that I was alone.

"You're really good with engines."

"Oh, hey Finn." He wolf whistled.

"She's a beauty,"

"You haven't seen anything yet," I ran to the side of the hanger, shut off the lights and pressed the button on the key.

"Woah! She lights up?!"

"That's right, baby!" I threw my rag down.

"Outside gear strong enough to repeal crystal blasts, inspired by our past adventures, with a UVA, UVB protective coat, stain and streak resistant, water proof so it'll survive water and heat damage…equipped with an amplifier plus a turbo for an extra boost ontop of the turbo charged and powered engine. The turbo crystals have enough energy to last for seven days and nights of non-stop riding."

"This is waaay better than what _we_ have!"

"I could only make your rides compatible with the turbo crystals within the time alotted to me by you guys. Considering how many I upgraded, I think I did great for a day and a half's work."

"No that's not what I meant. How long have you been working on it?"

"My Dad and I have been working on it for a couple months before he went missing. I took over then after waiting a few days for him to come back…uh, anyway I took over. After almost a year I finished it." _I wish-_

"We''ll find your Dad Latem, there's nothing the Storm Hawks can't do with brains like you added to the team."

"You mean that? We're a team?"

"Yeah, since day one." I smiled at him. _He's really sweet..._

"After we're done with Cycloniss and we've found my Dad, Dad and I can build a few for you guys. It's the least I can do for you guys."

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Cycloniss' POV

_"Where…is the Dark Ace?!…" He's been gone all morning, where could he be?!..._

"He is in the area behind the cave."

_"Go get him!"_ I yell. _Whatever it is distracting him, I don't care! He swore loyalty to Cyclonia, it still exists, and he swore his loyalty to me after the last Empress died. I'm going to put him in his place..._

* * *

"Dark Ace."

"Can't you see I'm busy?!"

"Master Cycloniss-"

"Errghh!" I stomped past him.

* * *

Cycloniss' POV

"What is it."

_"Watch that tone Dark. Ace...When you're speaking to me; You're my Talon, you work for me. You agreed to that ten months ago…"_

"I would know, I agreed to it." I tossed the map to him, he caught it at arms length.

_"We're leaving." _I lead the way into the front where all the Nightcrawlers were and straight to our rides.

_"Master."_

_"Are they ready?" _I mounted my ride and flipped the switches, turning on the engine and the turbo compatibility making it light up.

_"Yes Master, as you requested. Two updated skyrides with adaptations to turbo crystals however there are only enough-"_

_"Send others to fetch more."_

* * *

**Back with the Storm Hawks...**

We sat around the table having lunch, laughing at a banter between Finn and Junko.

S-"Hey, I do't want to alarm you but…I spy with my little eye the Empress of Cyclonia riding her sky ride not too far from us…"

"CYCLONISS?!"

**AN:We're close to the end. Review if you're still bearing with me.**


	13. Chapter13 So THIS is Cycloniss

**For the Cycloniss. And so it begins...**

EP13: Latem's POV

We all rushed to the windows to see for ourselves.

F-"What's Cycloniss doing here?!"

_That's Cycloniss…?_

A-"She's up to no good; everyone, roll out!"

S-"And I'll just stay here, safe-"

"Stay close Stork!" Leaving him deflated, we ran into the hanger and took off even faster than that.

A-"Latem what's around here that would attract her to this area?"

"Uh…" I looked below. It was a vast plain dense in lush bright green grass. If it looked like this then it means that it rains a lot, there's constant periods of humidity; perfect environment for-

"Latem?!"

"Truffle crystals! They don't do anything but they taste good and they fetch for hich prices at high class restaurants!"

F-"Why would Cycloniss go after _that_?!"

"Definitely to sell them, it's got to be it. She's gotta get her supplies from someone right?"

A-"So if she foil this then we shut down her whole operation, let's go!"

* * *

**Cycloniss'...**

"It's those meddling kids!" Dark Ace exclaimed behind me.

"Let them see me. _I want them to see that I can't be stopped_…" I rubbed away the dirt from the valued Truffle crystal.

_If these morons could complete a mission on their own I wouldn't have to do the dirty work..._

I growled at how literal it was this time.

A-"I didn't take you for the type of girl who played with mud Cycloniss," I put the crystal into my sack.

"Don't even think about it _Sky Knight_; you're not my **type**…"

F-"Ew…"

"Are you kidding me?! This chick's our age! You're seriously telling me that she's the one threatened us?!"

"Who's this." I said, offended from her undermining.

"Latem Welding, how can I **not** help you?" Eyes lit up at the will of kismet.

"_Latem…Welding_…" her expression changed to one of disguts of how I lengthened her name.

"_So you're the prodigy that I couldn't get my hands on then_…"

"What are you talking about." She growled.

"_Piper, looks like we're triplets rather than twins__…_"

"You're off-kilter!"

A-"Hand over the Truffles Cycloniss, we're putting you out of business!"

"_Oh I'm **far** from done…! Dark Ace, Fire's Fight…!_" The Dark Ace lit up in a fierce red glow and his eyes were cloud with raw energy, so raw that it was _white_...

"She's got tricks." I said surprised.

"_I'll show you a trick_…" A massive blast of fire came at us. I felt the intense heat on my face but then-

P-"Inferno's Blaze!" Aerrow jumped before me and diverted the path of the flame. Dark Ace kept pushing and Aerrow pushed back, alight in blue as well as Piper. I never felt so small…_Dad would be protecting me right now..._

"_ERGHHH!_" Cycloniss put more of her energy into him. The Dark Ace grunted in response; little cracks of white appeared everywhere on his body.

P-"Cycloniss, stop! He almost die-Dark Ace STOP!" The Dark Ace's expression was one of intense agony. Aerrow couldn't possibly keep up, continue to hold off the fire to protect us all; Piper was looking desperate already, floating mid-air in the lotus meditation position.

_Piper said the Binding required intense concentration right? Just interrupt the __connection..from the source!_

I ran to Piper's back, jumped off of it and off of Aerrow's shoulder, to flip over the Dark Ace and side kick Cycloniss to the ground.

"Ha!"

"_Gah!" _We fell to the ground, including Dark Ace, Aerrow and Piper.

"There's something going on…! In the town…!" Stork yelled from the speakers. Cycloniss took herself from under me and her staff back. The crustal at the tip of her staff as she brought Dark Ace to her.

_Is that the source of her power then…?_

"_Better late than ever but I'll see that the Nightcrawlers are punished__…_" she rode off without another word.

A-"We gotta save those people, c'mon!" Finn ran to help me up and helped me to the cruiser.

**AN: I'm really sorry for not updated when I said I would, but if I updated soon after today would I be forgiven? There'll be an update on Thanksgiving, my way of thanking you.**


	14. Episode14: Getting Warmer

**For Latem and her father. And so it continues...**

EP14: Latem's POV

"Are you okay?"

"Fine Finn, I'm not an ordinary girl."

"No you are not."

A-"Stork push the Condor to its limit!"

"I'm already on the other side of the dial!"

P-"I know it's here somewhere…!"

A-"What are you looking for?"

"I think I have a Nitro crystal, it's here somewhere! I hadn't used it!"

"I think I have an even better idea...

Combinningtheamplifierwithanenergizerandstickingthatwindstoneintothejet-"

A-"I'm sorry what?" I smiled.

F-"Combinning the amplifier with an energizer and sticking that windstone we have from Wren and sticking it into the jet…we'll get there in no time."

"Hmm…" I hummed.

"What's up…?" he said in a throaty voice.

A-"Alright, I'll go out there and put the windstone it. Piper?"

"Coming right up!….hmmmmm Feather's Flight!"

"The rest is up to you amd Finn. Crystals and mechanics really go well together…" he flew out the window of the bow.

"It's like I'm part of the team…"

"You are L,"

"Hmm, okay Junko, get me that amp, I'll go get the crystals. Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Be the awesomest and ready that amp for me will ya?"

"Will do…"

J-"Heh, heh…"

* * *

"WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

* * *

A-"Alright guys, time to take down some Nightcrawlers but watch out for civilians!" _We aren't rich, we're just a tiny settlement…if there's been a lot of damage..._

FLY!

"So what are Nightcrawlers?"

F-"Bad guys with bad taste…"

A-"They're extremely powerful because of the thing on their chest."

"Ever beaten one?"

P-"Sort off…" Everyone turned to Radarr who was frantically shaking his head no.

"I'm confused…"

A-"Apparently they're allergic to Radarr's fur…!"

"Huh…"

Ahead of us was screaming and people running for cover, pterodactyls screeched in fear and getting out of control, trying to escape-

"Hoodlums…!"

F-"Hood-what?"

"I've seen them before, there we're a lot of them flying a few weeks ago! They tried to ruin my town before…" I flew past them and closer to my home. _I've lost you Mom, and you dad…but I won't lose our home; it'll be here when you come back!_

A-"latem!" F-"LATEM!"

Flying over them I threw my specialized crystal bombs. Desinged to hurt when they exploded, but small enough that they didn't cause a lot of damage.

"Momma! momma!"

"Timmy!" A hoodlum with detachable wings was going to swoop him up! Unable to use a bomb I opted to push them to the side

"Argh!" I retracted the wings so I fell and didn't damage my ride being taken through the house with it. The mother and kid were long gone. Above me Finn shot at multiple targets, Piper and Aerrow were fighting seperately so there were more of us-

"Junko no!" he froze, his arms above his head ready to drop a Turkey Bomb.

"That'll destroy too many of the buildings!"

"But-"

"But nothing!" A collecton of screams called my attention.

"NO!" I ran towards the diner that was being taken apart piece by pice by Hoodlums. The place where Mana-

**The Nighcrawler that led the others follows her.**

"Mana! Mana, where are you?!"

"Latem..over here…" I ran to her, behind the counter.

"Are you okay, are you hurt?!" I started to lift the counter that was ontop of her.

"Get out of here…what would your father say if he came to see you gone?…"

"But he's not coming is he…?"

"I wouldn't give up were I you-"

"_What are you doing here…?!_"

**AN:Oooh! Any guesses?**

**Next-Dec.18**


	15. Episode15:Seeing You For The First Time

EP15:Latem's POV

_"What are you doing here…?!" _The Hoodlum, bigger than the rest, said hoarsely. Because I never heard a Hoodlum speak before, I turned with my guard down expecting…well, someone else.

Instead I was face to face with one of _them..._

_"GET OUT OF HERE...!"_

"Stay back you scum!" I pounced on him and took him down to the ground.

"Run Mana!" It grasped my upper arms.

"ehgh! Let go!"

"_Latem!_"

"?!" My eyes got wider and wider and I struggled to get air. _D-_

"_Latem, get out of here and get your friends out too."_

"What about the citizens?!"

_"…I'm sorry. I can't help…"_

"You're just going to let them get hurt?! Argh!" I ripped myself away and flipped backwards to Mana and got her out from under the counter. A loud creak made me look up, and the roof collapsed inwards. Without hesitation, he held it up, keeping it from crushing me.

"Gah-?!" _I don't understand, how-?!_

"_Latem…" I've never seen a Hoodlum smile before..._

"Something must be very wrong if you're capable of leaving so many people in harms way."

"_I wish I could tell you. Latem…stay out of harms way..." _I felt sorry that I wasn't going to do that for him, but knew that it would be better to continue trying to bring him back home.

"I love you." I ran out through a hole in the wall without hesitation, and continued to fight.

Up in the sky everyone was fighting , and unfortunately Finn lost his skyride and was using Aerrow's but-

"_R__etreat…!" _The Hoodlum 'whispered' harshly. We stopped, surprised, and the Hoddums followed the leader away to-

"Mgnh." I started to run after them, which was stupid because they could fly and I couldn't.

"Latem, stop!" Finn dove, retracting the wings, and screeched to a stop in front of me.

"Finn! If we follow them we can find Cycloniss and stop her!" I argued, on my toes and giving a good excuse.

"We're no where near strong enough to do that if she has this many Nighcrawlers, and who knows, maybe there's _more_…"

"Nightcrawlers…" The images created by their descriptions of the damage they've done in 'Atmos' appeared in my head, blending into each other like chaos. I was horrified. _Dad…how could you?!_

"Right now we've got a lot of cleanning up to do." Aerrow said next to me.

* * *

"No fair…" Finn grunbled.

"_They _made this mess, _they _should be cleaning this up…" Finn grumbled.

"The Bad Guys never worried about the mess they make Finn. And there's no mommy to tattle tale too."

"Heh, that'd be kinda funny." I made an incredulous and amused face.

"Thanks for helping anyway." he laughed awkwardly.

"Sure, no problem."

Finn cleared out a space for the victims to huddle in while Junko, and Aerrow and Piper, using their Binding, used supra strength to move the collapsed roofs and walls.

"Oh no! What are we going to do?!"

"It took months to put up that tiny shop!"

"Business wasn't good and now I have nothing!"

"Why did those, ergh! Why did they come back?!"

"You think it has something to do with those new kids?"

"They're not from around here right?"

"Hey! Stop! What happened here isn't our fault! We're helping you when we could easily leave you to deal with it yourselves! And who tried to fight them off while you were all running huh?!"

"Latem…" I turned to Piper.

"We need you to keep them calm, you're a native too and they'll listen to you. Besides, they're not that far off if you think about it. We _will_ take down Cycloniss."

"Not if I get to her first." I said to myself and continued with my work.

**AN: Hey-o! I hope you had a great christmas! There'll be another around New Year's and please check out my video on youtube where I imitate the female character voices of this show. I can really use your critiism and support! Just put ****imitations Storm Hawks in the search box. See ya!**

**PS:I'm under the same alias and if you don't have an account,, just put your comment in your review.**


	16. Episode16:Trade, Just Business

EP16:Latem's POV

We set up a temporary shelter for everyone and did our best to make everyone comfortable. I was walking around to check to see if everyone was asleep. Aerrow was the only one awake and pensive. I figured he wasn't going to look for me.

I worked in a corner of the hanger, switching a few modes and wires to turn my crystal detector into a handheld, more sensitive device with a larger range.

_If I'm close enough, with this I should find a signal of those Power crystals that the chest attachments of the Hoodlums were made of. I should be telling Aerrow this, but it was a personal war __between myself and Cycloniss from the moment she kidnapped my father and made him one of them._

Something told me to leave a hint, I was just thinking of Finn, but…I was going to leave them at some point and I didn't want to delay in taking my father back. I took my custom made ride to serve as an alibi. It's engine's purr was no where near loud enough to alert anyone.

I rode in the direction that the hoodlums flew away, paying close attention the my detector. I ended up in the outskirts and slowed down so I could go in the direction that my device made the loudest noise in.

_A cave? Heh, almost thick enough to cover the crystals power... _

I revved my engine and rode right in. Hoodlums were hanging from the rock walls and cieling like bats. I accelerated more to ramm through them.

"Dad!"

* * *

_Cycloniss' POV_

"_I__ never ordered a retreat! There better be a good reason why Mr.-"_

"Dad!" _How exciting!_

"-_Welding__…Latem, Welding?" _I said to him with a smirk. I now knew his purpose.

_"_Master-" I ignored him and went into tunnel.

"Cycloniss!"

"_Master__ Cycloniss…My, I can see the resemblance …in your stupidity. It's either that or you have a plan, Sanders 2.0…?"  
_

"Neither you witch! I have a propersition for you."

"_Oh_?" I turn and see that my servant hasn't moved a muscle.

"_And what would that be_?"

"Latem!"

"_A reunion…perhaps?"_

"No. A trade."

"_That's an interesting vehicle you have there,_"

"I finished it myself. You get me, in exchange for my father's freedom."

"No!" Without a care he stormed past me to her side and they had a side conversation. I looked at them interestedly.

* * *

_Latem's POV_

"You need to get out of here; I joined her so she would leave you and the town alone-"

"Well she didn't!"

"It's because you and your_ friends_ got involved!" Over his shoulder I saw her looking at us with amused eyes.

"They can help but they need _your_ help to take her down. You haven't taught me everything you know, there wasn't time before and-and you know inside stuff that'll help them. This will save our world _and_ theirs; we aren't the only ones in danger if she gets away…"

"Latem…I promised your mother I would protect you."

"And I promised her to protect _you_-"

"_As touching as this reunion may be-_"

"Deal or no deal, me in exchange for my father."

"_The thing about family is that they never leave a member behind-_" Dad decided to leave in that moment.

_"-So much for family…"_ She then came to inspect my ride.

"_Welcome to mine...Latem…"_


	17. Episode17:Ulterior Motive

EP17:Latem's POV

_"Welcome to mine, Latem…"_ Cycloniss said behind me. I watched Dad run away. I felt the same thing I felt when I woke up to an empty garage, the feeling of abandonement.

_"I know what you're thinking Latem…you're thinking that your father will aid the Storm Hawks in defeating me and you're right, it could work however…"_

"However…?"

"They're out of time." She smiled wickedly.

"Welding senior has been constructing my latest weapon that you will finish!" she emphasized her order by pointing her crystal tipped staff at me.

"_heh heh heh…"_

* * *

_Dark Ace POV_

_'I haven't lost yet!' she said. She's completely in denial if she believes she can make a comeback with the low number of Nighcrawlers!_

"**_Rawrgh_…!**" The Nightcrawler I was using as a dummy was finished. After the _humiliating_ defeat, Cycloniss went immediately to yell at the Welding man. I was going to passby as I did to watch her, and the construction, but saw a the girl-the same girl from then.

"Welding senior has been constructing my latest weapon that you will finish!" I heard her say to her.

"Dark Ace!" I threw my head back and internally groaned. _Why was I trying to avoid breaking something at this moment…?_

"What." I stomped to her.

"Take her to it." I looked down at the petite girl.

"Either you've got a lot of nerve or you're stupid." I said to her.

"Neither." she said.

…_she's small and…reckless__…_I recalled her act of stupidity when she pounced on us on the Truffle field.

_I can use her..._

"Follow me."

* * *

_Latem's POV_

"Follow me." _For a bad guy he sounds…not as intimidating as I imagined…I don't trust him one bit..._

"What happened to the Welding man?"

"You mean my father. I traded myself for him." I gestured to the seismic wave generator created to cause earthquakes and tsunamis.

"There's your job."

"…!" _A wave generator strong enough to reach the tectonic plates under-Father reveresed our shock absorber technology..._

"You know what this is?"

"I know what this is…" I affirmed.

"Then you know how to sabotage it…?" I turned to him sharply.

"Cycloniss has taken it too far. Her goal was to unite the Terras under one flag but…the drive took her somewhere else…"

"…you mean you want to stop her?" he nodded solemnly, as if he was burdened for a long time.

"But you've been working with her for a long time, why should I believe you?"

"Not with her, _for_ her; I learned the hard way and first hand what she will do to everyone if she gains control. Like how she treated your father and took him from you..."

"But…you fought against me and you were serious about it…!"

"I only found out now! you-!…you'll see for yourself…" I watched him walk away.

_He's pulling my leg…isn't he…?_

* * *

_Darck Ace POV_

"You know what this is…?" I asked her.

"I know what it is…" she responded and it was _exciting. I can use her…I'll use to stop Cycloniss and take the worlds for myself…!_

**AN: I know I said it ws going to end soon but I guess I was wrong. REVIEW!**

**Feb.1rst**


	18. Episode18: (Finn) Meeting Dad

EP18:_DarkAce POV_

It was going to take time to get the girl on my side and that was something I wasn't keen on giving anymore of.

_I just need her to improve my sword…and then…Cycloniss' head would roll..._

_"Something on your mind Dark Ace?" _Her soft and falsely sweet voice asked.

"Nothing at all you're highness."

_You act all high and mighty you delusional witch...know-it-all..._I smirk behind her back.

* * *

's POV

I mounted the black SkyRide and sped out of the mouth of the cave. Knowing my daughter she did not give me the exact location of our saviors to protect them but it must be near Mana's diner where I saw my only and precious child after so many months. Where was THAT child's mother?

Flying overheard longer than I wished I finally saw the monstrous cruiser, that I recognized from the past, and continued there. They weren't going to let me in just because I knocked and kindly asked for admittance considering I was still dressed as a Nightcrawler. I opted to sneak in from the top. I dropped onto the round table, with the emblem of the storm hawks. Immediately they all took out their weapons and got ready. The green-whatever whimpered and coward behind the red-haired boy.

"Sheath your weapons-"

Finn-"It-He- can talk?!"

"I come at your mercy and I beg for your help." I fling my hood back, revealing that I was bald and marked in black, swirls along the sides of me skull as a result of her 'treatment' to _make_ the best soldier.

Aerrow-"Who are you?"

"My name is Sanders Welding. I am Latem's father."

* * *

Latem:

"What...is this?!"

* * *

After the initial shock, and thanks to the kind and tiny petite girl, we finally got to the point of explaining what I was doing there if not to attack them. The Blond boy with spiked hair was oddly nervous.

"Cycloniss designed a new means for world domination she lovingly call 'Arachnid'. They're vehicles that literally crawl on eight legs,100 feet above the ground, and its eyes are actually geysers that shoot a crystals power. Each Nightcrawler is to operate one. It is my estimate that only one is needed to destroy this little settlement. Imagine what nearly a hundred can do."

The red haired boy appeared to be slightly deflated. Surprisingly it was Finn who was the first to speak. Perhaps unintentionally.

"I can't believe Latem went on her own, in the middle of the night...maybe if we left to look for her we could have stopped her-"

"That would have been a mistake son. Latem traded her life for me, so I could come tell you everything I know. Cycloniss is convinced that she will succeed that she allowed it."

"But what'll happen to _her_?!"

"If you think I am a terrible father I wouldn't blame you." He sobered a little.

"Latem is practically a second Laila, my wife. Stubborn, selfless, and...always somehow convinced me to aim for the impossible, like making a SkyRide that is both energy efficient and silent. When Latem rode in on it I was so proud of her for finishing it...What I meant is, Latem is impossible to persuade and she wouldn't let her Friends any where near danger. And if anyone can foil Cycloniss's plans it's Latem. She'll buy us time, not a lot but enough to make a plan." One by one they all got on their feet.

Aerrow-"And we won't let her down."

Finn-"Latem's one of us and we'll do whatever we have to to get her back."

Piper-"Yea-heah!"

Stork-"No one in this universe can make a gumbo like she can..." Junko punched his fists together, activating his knucklebusters and the Ralebit squaked, an arm around a hen that suddenly flew onto the table.

**An:still loving this? I'm asking because it's been so long...*cowers ashamed***

**ARE YOU A FAN OF THE STORM HAWKS? if so then you're welcome to join in on a podcast I am hosting on youtube via Skype the topic: F-SHIPPING NOT CLEAR ON THE SHOW! 'cuz you know, it wasn't clear, official, on who's dating who. Yeah, lots of people say it's Aerrow and Piper but...for more listen in!**

**Contact me if you want to join.**

**IF YOU CAN'T THEN PLEASE SEND ME YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE PAIRINGS AND YOUR FAVORITE PAIRING, THE ONE YOU SHIP, BECAUSE IT'S "F-SHIPPING NOT CLEAR ON THE SHOW" WHO'S DATING WHO! XD**


	19. Episode19: Escape

EP19:Latem's POV

Master Cycloniss put me to work right away; I had a Nightcrawler looking over my shoulder all the time and all I was ever given to eat by them was bread and water. But I learned more about my surroundings and the Dark Ace. The poor man.

* * *

Dark Ace's POV

I managed to gain the trust of the Welding girl. It was a painstakingly hard and long process but I simply reminded myself that it was all for a reason and that I will get payback for it. The girl trusted me utterly and completely.

"I hope that I don't have to suffer for long," I said in pitiful voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm certainly not going to hurt myself, why punish myself? No. I'm going to return every hurt she inflicted. I was hoping you would help me." She scoffed as if her response should have been obvious to me.

"After ruinning my family of course I will."

The plan was to sneak into the room Cycloniss slept in and attack her there while she was away from any crystal. The girl used the crystals she used to weld metal to knock Cycloniss' staff out of her hand and I did the rest.

"I'm leaving." I hear her say as I gloated.

"You're not going anywhere!" As I turn to her, she turns back and is blasted off of her feet.

* * *

Latem's POV

I was surprised by his harsh voice and turned as if to see if he was really talking to me like that. I came face to face with a ball of crystal energy.

When I came to I found myself bound with Cycloniss, our backs to each other in the binds. We were still in the throne room.

"Wha…"

"Serves you right." said a familiar voice. I turned to my left and saw that Cycloniss was in the same disposition. But instead of being confused like me, she was irritated.

"You didn't change anything. Dark Ace is as power hungry as I am, difference is I only wanted the land, crystals, and advanced technology; I could care less about the inhabitants, Dark Ace however wants to dominate everyone."

"…what have I done…"

"Help me and I will free you."

"No, I've helped out enough-"

"Listen to me! I'm going to tell the Storm Hawks and get them to help me defeat him and then you'll be free."

"Why should I believe you?"

"I can't rule the world if it's under the tyranny of Dark Ace." She said as a matter of factly.

"Fine I'll help but you won't go near my father." I tell her.

"I have more important things to do." She responds.

"I'm going to use my own living energy to burn through the rope. When the Dark Ace returns to gloat, again, you attack him, distracting him, and giving me time to run."

"But the staff," I protested.

"Kick it away and you might have time to run yourself."

"…let's do it."

Cycloniss burned through most of the roped but at stopped at a few threads so the ropes were still held up and the Dark Ace didn't catch on to them. He came in, a confident strut, Cycloniss' staff in his hand, sporting a…too-excited smile.

"Not so powerful now are witch?"

"Hmph." The Dark Ace was unfazed by her aloof demeanor, he circled us whilst spinning the staff in his hand. I felt the heat of Cycloniss' energy; she was cutting the last threads. I trained my eyes on the Dark Ace.

"I trusted you, you bastard." I grumbled.

"I take that as a compliment," he said, stopping infront of my and crouching to my level.

"It's all _your_ fault if you really think about it, not just getting decived but the events that led you here." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Your mother, instead of saving herself, she wasted her time hiding _you_; Switching places with your father now your father is risking himself to save _you-"_

_"SHUT UP!" _I screamed, and pushed off of the ground with the sides of my feet.

"Argh!" Cycloniss grunted, having been dragged with me, half done with the burning.

I threw myself at Dark Ace, tackling him to the ground.

"Neah!" He grunted and punched me off him the straddled me and blasted at Cycloniss with the staff. Weakened from using her natural energy she tumbled out of the way.

"Get the staff away from him!" she screamed.

I rocked onto neck and pushed my legs up from under and over, crossing my ankles around his neck and bringing him backwards.

* * *

Cycloniss' POV

Dark Ace had stopped shooting so I looked up and saw that the girl had him. I took that chance and ran as fast as I could out of that room, leaving her behind.

**I know I'm late, I. Am. Sorry.**


	20. Episode20: The Enemy Is My BFF

EP20: Cycloniss's POV

While Latem had Dark Ace in a choke hold, I took off, running as fast as I could. The Nightcrawlers wouldn't follow my orders anymore but the giant green monsters were still mine.

I put two fingers in my mouth an whistled. The sound waves bounced off of the cave walls, spreading the signal. I climp atop on of the monsters that guarded the entrance and made it gallop at top speed. Looking behind me, the others were following.

_I'm absolutely defeated__…_I couldn't help thinking. _I feel so undignified, pathetic…very unlike the young and ambitious Empress I was not that long ago._

"Hya!"

_But there has to be a way. To salvage what I can..._

_Right now I just want to live._

What I feared was being captured again, this time by the Storm hawks and then handed over to the Sky Knight Council and Atmos Alliance.

_I would be killed for sure..._

* * *

Piper's POV

"What…is that sound…?" I asked. The pounding sounded like it was coming from far away, and 'deep' like whatever was making it was large. Stork was the first to the periscopes.

"M-m-m-m-MONSTERS!" I nudged him away and had a look for myself.

"It's Cycloniss!" I screamed, alarmed but from her appearance. Her bodysuit was torn in some places like she's been in a hard fight, and her hair was a mess.

"Piper!" Aerrow called after as I ran out to get my ride.

"Wait," Aerrow gripped my shoulder to stop me from speeding off.

"Let's all wait for her here."

Like he said, well allwaited outside the Condor, armed and ready. From a few feet, I saw that she looked angry but sad, but worry was dominant. She patted that thing she was riding and it stopped, the others behind it did the same.

"I…need your help."

"I really don't think she's here to attack us Aerrow." I said but Aerrow of course was apprehensive.

"They won't bite." Cycloniss explained. The monster let her stand on it's hand and it set her down gently.

"Dark Ace has lost his mind. I'm sure the imbecile thinks he can take over Cretacious with what I had created." She explained as she got closer. She only spared me a quick glance.

"So you want us to take him down?" Aerrow asked, amused.

"Ha, no. I'll be getting him off his high horse and getting back what it rightfully mine."

"But you need _our_ help."

"_You_ need my help to take him down and keep the innocents safe." She retorted.

"Guys! Let's just forget we're enemies for a bit and defeat Dark Ace _and_ rescue Latem!" I cried. They lgave each other hard looks.

"Fine." They agreed.

* * *

"So what does he have to work with." Aerrow asked. We all gathered at the large round table at the front of the ship. Sanders stood as far from her as possible.

"Ninety-eight Nightcrawlers. There's five Anarchids, four that still need some work. Apart from that, the same attachments to the Nightcrawlers armor and then there's Dark Ace's abilities."

"We're actually glad he's alive." I said pointedly.

"Right now, I'm not." she responded.

"How can you say that! How can you kill people so easily?!"

"Like _you're_ so innocent?! How many soldiers have you killed?! They have families too and what makes you so sure the lava serpents didn't snack on them huh?!" We were inches apart, baring our teeth, with fierce expressions on our face.

"It's…different." I struggled to argue.

"We're **not** so different." She said. She turned away and looked at the map of the area I spread out.

"The caves are here. The Dark Ace is the best general Cyclonia has had in two generations, that I can vouch for. If…If I know him then he'll split up the Nightcrawlers, have one go to the farthest side of the village, a portion carrying an Anarchid, and the others and other four Anarchids on the side closest to him." She explained, using an index finger to point to the areas.

"He would probably do it tomorrow night. If we hurry we can beat him to it."

"We should move the villagers to a safer place first." Sanders said. "But I don't believe I should be the one to do that." He added, gesturing to his Nightcrawler garb.

"Finn, Junko, and I will do that. Stork can check all of our weapons and ammo to make sure everything's on point." I inputted.

"Since most of the Anarchids will be on the south side, all of the monsters should go there, hidden in the buildings there. They can delay the Anarchids for a while but w-we still have the one on the north and the ninety-eight Nightcrawlers." Cycloniss said.

"We need more man power. A _lot_ more." I stated.

"We can inspire the people to lend a hand. I'm sure they will be a great help, there are many skilled people there. I'm sure we can build a few small things to help us." Sanders proposed.

"And we can use our crystals to fight against them!" He nodded at my response.

"We'd need a lot more than what we have but we can split up!"

"No one has to be an expert to cultivate any."

"Then let's start by inspiring those people to help us, and hiding the elderly, disabled and children away." Aerrow said.

"Junko, you keep watch." He added, nodding to Cycloniss.

"Uh… don't think-"

"Eargh, I'm right here." She growled, arms crossed.

"I'll do it." I volunteered. She looked at me, surprised.

"Are you sure?" Aerrow asked.

"Yeah. No problem." At that Cycloniss turned her head away, looking at the floor.

"Then let's go."

Everyone was leaving and Cycloniss was walking infront of me when Sanders stopped her.

"Where is my daughter."

"I wouldn't worry about her." She she said harshly, knocking his hand off her as she walked around him. But she seemed stopped for a second to say:

"She's…talented." and then she walked away.

_I knew she could be nice..._

I smiled, and followed after her.

**Thank you for not unfavoriting or unfollowing, I'm really sorry for not updating but I'm determined to finish this before summer.**

If you liked this, you might like** What A Wonderful Life, Storms Made Us, Starlight Star Bright, and FORGOTTEN. **

**With infinite love forever,**

**MYSTERY READER**


	21. Episode21: It Ends Now

Episode 21\- _Piper's POV_

We all went into the streets, bangind pots and pans to get people to exit the buildings and give us thier attention. Aerrow gave a convincing speech that reflect all of our experience. Not a lot, but some stepped up to the plate to help cultivate crystals and create new weapons they could use. The rest somberly packed up thier things and helped each other moves things to the other side of the town.

Cycloniss, using her power, and Sanders moved planks to the Barrier Cliffs and built a platfrom around the spikes. A normal shelter would be too obvious, they would have to hide behind the spikes.

Some time during the trek there, a little girl started following closely behind Cycloniss and stayed with her the entire time. I watched her perform 'magic' tricks for the girl who looked on in wonder and amazement. The little girl's smile was contagious, I had to smile myself, and Cycloniss was not immune.

"Okay, Cycloniss it's time." Without a word she went to move the green monsters to their place.

Not long after was she back, and the rest of the gang.

"The other side is looking great. This town will be well defended." Aerrow said.

"That's great!"

"Yeah, great. Now hand over the crystals." Cycloniss said sourly.

"No way."

"Don't trust me? Well how am I going to defend myself?"

"I'll be doing that." I told her. She turned away, arms crossed, clearly annoyed.

"Here Piper, this is what's left after the north side took what they needed."

"It's enough, thanks." And he left to check on the citizens.

"Let's go Cyclonis." I said gently. She followed, keeping pace.

"We're not friends, nor are we going to be after this." she said.

"I know, and we'll be fighting each oher again. But I want you to know something-"

"I don't want to hear it-"

"I don't hate you. And to me, we can pick up where we left off; friends fight all the time. You can't say we weren't friends back then." She stayed silent.

"So why don't you give up and you can..let go, start over?" I proposed.

"When we get to Atmos, Cyclonia won't be Cyclonia ruled by a Master. The Sky Knight council would have assigned a squadron to them and be of help to the people. It isn't as if Atmos would cause harm to them. If you stay with us, I can give you a new life; you don't have to lose it to the war, it isn't worth it. You can do so much good with your power." She wouldn't look at me but she had to listen to me! I grabbed her shoulders and made her face me.

"Cycloniss! You save me once, now let me save you!" And then I saw she was crying.

"Cy-Lark…" Her tears tainted with her eyeliner rained down her face, her eyes thundering with pain. I tried to pull her into a hug but she pushed me away.

"I'm sorry I lied, is that what you wanted to hear?!" She growled, roughly wiping her tears away.

"Is that what you've been wanting to say?"

"…I really don't like you."

"Yes you do. While we're talking again, what happened to Dark Ace after you blew him up."

"He can atomize himself and put himself together."

"You could have mentioned that."

"Slipped my mind." she shrugged.

"Anything else?"

"You already know he's stronger now. He doesn't need me for power anymore. He's a danger to the Farside and Atmos."

"I know. He has to die."

"I sure wish I did before this happened."

"Is hurting people really that easy for you."

"No! I grew up under his tutelage, we both enjoyed winning; it's **not** easy! You don't understand anything Piper, I'm **not** coming with you to Atmos, I'm **not** going to be your friend! I'm not giving up without a fight!" She turned on her heel and flew ahead with her power.

"Lark!" I screamed, trying to catch up on foot. Whe we reached the other side of town, we faced all four Anarchids, a swarm of Nightcrawlers, Dark Ace leading them all.

"It ends **_now_**." Lark swore.

* * *

**The next chapter may be the last.**


	22. Episode22: It's Over

Episode 22\- _Piper's POV_

"It ends **_now_**." Lark swore.

"Everybody ready?! FIRE!"

Bombs made of rocks embedded with explosive crystals were catapulted, hitting the Anarchids. Civilians shot at the Nightcrawlers wings and others riding pteradactyls showered them with Swarm crystals, water ballons and buckets of pteradactyl drool, while Lark's monsters tried to knock over the Anarchid's pilots.

I did my part fighting the Nightcrawlers and Lark did hers with her power, zipping back and forth, launching herself from the back of a Nightcralwer to another's, taking them down.

"**_I'll get you Cycloniss!_**" Dark Ace's voice echoed in the night.

"I'm right here." She said, floating mid-air, glowing. Dark Ace suddenly turned red and kept getting redder and redder till he was white and then he was gone. No. A swarm of particles, surrounding Lark.

"No!" Lark was taking a beating and we still had to find Latem.

"Hey Piper!" Or she could find us.

"Latem!"

* * *

Latem's POV

"It's time to shine." Dark Ace said.

When I was fighting him I knew I wasn't going to win but I tried my hardest anyway to free myself. I didn't win but I bought Cycloniss enough time to run and that was enough. He roughed me up a bit more and put me back to work. He want the Anarchids finished 'now' but I told him it would take another day at least.

"You have till the end of the_** night**_."

We worked hard; I learned that the Nightcrawlers were actually a biker gang. They valued thier lives and obeyed their master. Serve or you die. We finished before the end of the night.

Now I sat, tied up, on one of the machines, Dark Ace standing next to me.

"_**I'm going to get you!**_"

"I'm right here." Of course she kept her promise. Dark Ace turned red, redder and redder until he was white and charged at her. Leaving the machine on auto-pilot.

_What a terrible villain, leaving your prisoner like this__…_I muttered in my head and wriggled in my ropes. I tightened the rope around my chest to loosen it around my wrists. Hands free I untied my feet and pulled off my gag. From up here I could see Piper in all the chaos below.

"Hey Piper!"

"Latem!" Grinning, I took control of the machine and turned its head and started poking at the Anarchid closest to me. I knocked it over and started stabbing at it's belly, pulling up, tearing a hole in the metal. From below it would have looked like giant spiders were battling it out. Finally I pulled it's guts out.

_One down, three to go. _

I made the machine jump between two of the other three and sparred with our pointy legs. I was actually enjoying myself.

"WHOOOOOO-EEE! Come and get it boys!" The villagers were doing an amazing job. By getting attacked from all sides, it wasn't long before the Anarchids fell.

"YEAH!"

"Let's get 'em!" "Whoo!" "Yea-heah!" They cheered and surrounded them. Little Radarr juped onto one of the Nightcrawlers' face and onto the others, knocking them out with his allergens.

"Latem!" I turned to embrace Piper.

"Piper! Am I glad to see _you_!"

"I am too. I think these guys got it covered, let's go save Lark!" And she took off.

"Who?!"

"Cycloniss!"

"Wait, _why_?!" I yelled, running after her.

"She's my friend too!"

* * *

Cycloniss' POV

Dark Ace surrounded me, I turned over and over, unsure of where he would attack.

"Got you!" He kicked me from behind, sending me down to the roof below in a free fall. It took me by surprise so all I could was form a shield around me. I broke through the roof, Dark Ace leisurely following behind.

"So many years of service, undying loyalty for this. What waste, what a mistake!"

"We gave you power!"

"I already had power!"

"You're nothing but a traitor!" I screamed and shot up, foot up to kick him in the face. He atomized again and blew me through the wall into the alley.

"Ungh…"

"All I wanted was a little more than recognition but I was only a tool to you, for you to use. Isn't that right, Master Cycloniss?!" He kicked my stomach while I was still down.

"Gah!"

"You never saw me as anything else did you?!" I managed to block his next kick.

"If you have to ask then you know I did. I did see you as something else. Once."

"But not anymore?!" He picked me up and threw me back down again. I fell, rolling onto my back and I didn't try to get up again.

"We had so many great times Ace. So many wins. I don't care how many fights you lost; the only thing that mattered to me was your loyalty. I was very much in love, I still am. But I created a monster. I didn't mean to turn you into this. I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough!"

"So you're going to kill me?"

"…..."

"At least let me give you what we always wanted." He shifted on his feet, unsure, but he simmered down to his human form; he came to me and knelt beside me. Propping myself up with my elbow, I pulled his face down to mine and gave us the long awaited kiss we always dreamed of.

"I love you." I whispered, and pushed the tip of my staff into him and pushed out the remainder of the energy from the chrysanthemum I stored in it.

"What?!"

"I'm sorry Dark Ace! I'm sorry!"

"NOOOOOOOO!" I kept pushing and pushing.

Past the point where he turned white from the energy's heat.

He started to atomize; it was like I was seeing collage of pictures that from afar looked like his face.

Past the point where he was no longer Ace but a floating swarm of atoms that vibrated, divided.

And then he fizzled. His glitter rained down and dissappeared before he reached the ground.

"I'm sorry..."

* * *

Latem's POV

I wasn't sure how fun it was having_ her_ around but I trusted Piper with my life. I followed her into a shop who's cieling was caved in and through the hole in the wall. She ran down the alley where Cycloniss' body lay.

"Lark!"

"Is she dead?" I asked.

"Barely alive. Help me carry her,"

"Sure." Piper carried her upper body and I carried her legs.

"Where's the Dark Ace?" I asked to no one in particular. We looked around and at the sky as we walked back but found nothing.

* * *

Most of the Nightcrawlers were gone, some knocked out, and the place was a mess but we were all okay. Cycloniss' monsters carried us to the other side of town where the others were already cleaning up, having not had to deal with many enemies.

"Aerrow!"

"Piper! Radarr!"

Piper slid down the monster's arm and I searched for my dad. I found looking like my Dad, in normal clothes.

"Dad!" I called happily. I was in tears by the time I landed in his arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay." He said, hugging me tight.

"Me too, I missed you so much!" He kissed my head and I squeezed him tight before I remembered about the others.

"Finn!" There were hugs all round, more cheers.

"Where's Cycloniss?" Aerrow asked. He looked to where Piper and I turned our heads. Cycloniss' monster had her in it's hand.

"Let's get her into the ship. Is everyone going to be alright?"

"We are Aerrow; don't worry about us, we can take it from here." Mana spoke.

"Mana!" _Thank goodness!_

"I'm fine dear, you go ahead." I gripped her hand before following the others into the Condor, Cycloniss carried by Junko.

* * *

**The next chapter is definitely the last.**


	23. Episode23: It's Begun

Episode 23\- _Cycloniss' POV_

_This cieling…I don't recognize it_. I sat up, riddled with pain. _Was it all a dream?_

"Oh good you're up! We were all worried."

"Piper?" She rushed to put the tray of food and water down to help me up.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"Everything's okay." She said with a smile. "Everybody's okay. You should eat." I looked down and saw that I was still in this Cyclonian bodysuit.

"Can you help me change clothes first?"

"Do you want to wash up first?" I was in so much pain. _Could I_?

"Nevermind, can I be alone?"

"Of course. There's a change of clothes over there and a towel."

"…thanks." With a smile, i think she meant to be comforting, she left.

_Piper's room__…_I was surprised I was alive. I was hoping I would die. I got up quickly and almost collapsed back onto the bed.

_Gah, my stomach hurts so much!_ And took the clothes and towel with me to the bathroom.

I made quick work of it, washed away the eyeliner, and tied my hair in twin tails. Then I went to Piper's experiment room, remembering the way from before, and blew up my cyclonian bodysuit.

_Where do I go now? _My stomach growled. _Food._

* * *

Making my way towards the front of the ship I heard them conversing.

"…now about getting home." Aerrow was saying, unsure about how to begin to search for a way.

"Underwater caves." Latem, her father and all of the Storm Hawks stood or sat in the bow.

"…What?"

"One of the underwater caves leads to Aquanos. I had the displeasure of meeting I.J. Domiwick again."

"He actually made it?!"

"Him and his ego, all in one piece."

"That's great! Never thought I'd say I'd be happy to see him again."

"Come sit down," Piper offered.

"I'm…actually hungry." I said, feeling slightly embarassed.

"No problem!" She jumped up from her seat and disappeaed into the kitchen. Her seat was the only one vacant so I took it, my body too sore to stand. Everyone was silent and it was painfully awkward.

"I'm not going to eat any of you." I tried to joke. They chuckled nervously.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Only a day. We all crashed too." Aerrow responded.

"You look…different." Finn commented. I scoffed. I remembered he hit on me back then too.

"Thanks."

"So…what happened to Dark Ace?"

"He's dead. And the Nightcrawlers?"

"Gone."

"Mmm." Piper then gave me a plate of food, a mix of breakfast and lunch. "Thanks. So um, no hard feelings?"

"As long as you don't try to take over the world again."

"I won't, I promise."

"Latem-"

"Don't mention it. Quite frankly I want to forget it all. We're cool." She said with a smile. I nodded.

"So…you're coming with us?" Finn asked.

"Well…can I? I have nowhere else to go…"

"You have to ask?!" Piper cried cheerfully.

"**Welcome** to the family." Aerrow said. _Family..._

* * *

That moment was when I was able to see what the sky really looked like, for the first time, and appreciate it. I don't think you noticed it. Then again...

I hope you forgive me Ace. It's all my fault and I know it. I hope you know I know it.

Somewhere along the line I lost you in the bitterness, losing to the Storm Hawks. Atmos. What felt like everyone.

I should have just focused on one thing. Keeping what I had. Cyclonia as it was, but more importantly you.

From now on I'll do things right, be proactive.

* * *

Piper's POV

We patched up the Condor as best we could and went our way to find the cave after saying our goodbyes to the town. We couldn't _wait_ to get home!

I.J. Domiwick was more than happy to show us the way, and tell us about his adventures since reaching the FarSide.

* * *

Latem's POV

That I.J. Domiwick can talk. Talk more than two woman gossiping all by himself. But I was distracted enough. I had a lot to think about.

The decision to leave with the Storm Hawks had to be decided right away. I loved my home. But a world of new adventures, lots more crystals and so much more was in my reach so how could I not go? Dad understood and said he'd go with me. One other thing I left everything I knew for was Finn. I wasn't sure if anythng would happen between us but I enjoyed spending time with him and the Storm Hawks so I would still have a win.

When we resurfaced there was people everywhere in the harbor. They cheered, chanting the Storm Hawks's name.

"Tritonn!"

"Aerrow! Look, me hearteys! It's the Storm Hawks! C'mere you seadogs!" He hugged them all tightly.

"Who are these lads?" He asked, refferring to the three strangers.

"These are our friends who came with us fro mthe FarSide: Sanders and Latem Welding and Lark."

"Aye, **welcome** Atmosia! Say, you got time to share a drink with me? Cider O'course."

"Um, maybe another time, we should really get to Atmosia."

"Right ye are. Congratulations."

"On…what?"

"Go and find out."

And we did just that, using boosters to get there faster. Atmos was beautiful, I was absolutely enjoying this and good thing I had all my life to see it all and meet everyone, at least all of the friends the Storm Hawks have made and the Sky Knight squadrons.

In Atmosia all of the inhabitants were going about their day until we arrived and it was the same thing. As we landed Piper noticed that the Storm Hawks flag fluttered in the wind. It was crazy to see that, even for me.

Turns out Atmos was still repairing all of the damages and getting people who's terra was destroyed settled in other terras. That was frightenning to hear but I couldn't be surprised it was her doing. The Sky Knight council assured them everything was alright.

"And we are also happy to say that, we choose the Storm Hawks as our Sky Knight squadron." The head said.

"Alright!" What the Storm Hawks have been waiting for was finally granted.

* * *

Word spread quickly and all of the squadrons came.

"Woah…_dragons_! They're so cute!"

"Latem, this is Rinjin, and Lynn, the Screaming Queens, the Buffbots, the Absolute Zeroes, the Rex Guardians…" The list and names went on forever.

"Aerrow,"

"Starling!"

"It's good to see you all again, we all hoped to."

"Us too. How've you been?"

"Great, we've all been doing well; so is Cyclonia with the new Ravencrows squadron looking after them. Ravess and Snipe however are still detained in Atmosia's armoury. I've also teamed up with Lynn and Dove. The Interceptors are their way to coming to life again."

"That's great! Can we see your cruiser?"

"Ah…we've still yet to have one." Starling said sheepishly.

"Well you can bunk with us!"

And that's how there's twelve of us crammed into the Condor. I wouldn't have it any other way, having brothers and more sisters. I moved in with Lark and Piper while Star, Lynn, and Dove took what was my room but Starling's from the start.

We hit off with everyone, Lark and I. I admit I feel bad for her. She has to keep it all a secret and suffer the guilt for the rest of her life. But it was what it was.

Starling thought us girls were great together too, proven by our teamwork and victories when we all played steal-the-flag. You're looking at the new additions of the Interceptors. Starling was our Sky Knight and strategist, Dove was the shooter, Lark the Crystal Mage, I the specialist, and Lynn was going to be the carrier pilot when we got one. We'll live on the Condor for a while longer but that was the upside.

I was right, there's new adventures to come. **This is gonna be fun**.

* * *

**Thank you all for reading, I hoped you enjoyed the ride, had fun. I also hope to see you at my other SH fics and podcast on youtube which will be up this summer called 'Atmos Access'.**

As for the death of the Dark Ace... no way was he going to live. I'm kind of sad too. And even though this story is over, theirs have only just begun.

**With infinite love forever,**

**MYSTERY READER**

*sigh*

If there's typos in the last three chapers I apologize, I did my best, these chapters wrote themselves practically. I think I did well, handlng multiple POV'S, this had a good pace, it was action-packed but of course there's always room for improvement. Any thoughts, comments and feedback will be greatly appreciated. So will be those on my orignal works that will be posted here for feedback. Follow me, join me on new adventures.


	24. The Last One

**The Last One**

Her foot steps echoed off of the stone walls as she tread down the steps to the basement of Atmosia's armory.

"Master Cycloniss!" Ravess exclaimed in schock.

"Oh Master Cycloniss it's you! I knew you'd come!" She cried happily.

"You've been exonerated." She explained, unlocking the doors. "I came to give you one last mission." She gave Ravess the bundle she carrried.

"Yes Master, anything!"

"Leave here, start over, and live your life. You only have the one. Spend it wisely. You both know you enjoy your sibling quarrels." She added. The bright haired siblings looked at each other, made a silent agreement, and fell to their knees, a fist at their heart, their other arm behind them..

"It is an honor to have served you your majesty."

"The honor was all mine."


	25. MESSAGE

**A NEW SH FIC!** I'll be starting this SH fic, the 4th season of SH, based on a friend's info, at around a month from now so follow me so you don't miss the alert!

**PLUS**-I'm on deviant art; there I'll be posting drawings, maybe photos, and updates on a podcast I created where I interview other SH fans. Google me The-Last-Interceptor DeviantArt.

**On FanFiction** I'll be posting original works, parts of novels and short stories, I hope to publish so I can have feedback. So do please stop by and feel free.

**On** YouTube, I upload videos of mysefl imitation characters but now I'm expanding to experimenting with voices based on my imagination so I'd love some feed back on that.

I'd love to have a genuine friendship with you guys, a network of support, in a non-creepy way.

_With infinite love forever,_

_MYSTERY READER_


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